Power Rankings: Restricted Movement

Not a whole lot of movement in this week's edition of the Power Rankings. Our best and worst teams are still the same, but we've got a new squad cracking the top 10. If you haven't been paying close attention to them, you might not be aware of how good this team is playing.

1. Sharks (Last Week: 1) Two close losses to the Western elite aren't enough to knock the Sharks from the top of our perch. The Sharks still have the highest point total in the league, tied with our No. 2 team ...
2. Capitals (3) ... who have matched the Sharks despite playing one less game. The Caps got blanked by Buffalo this week, but posted a shutout of their own and scored eight goals in their second game without Alex Ovechkin. The Caps scored 14 goals in two games without Ovie, a scary prospect for the East.
3. Devils (5) Every night the Devils trot out a large group of youngsters to fill their injury-riddled lineup, and the team keeps humming along. They went 4-0 this week, including a dominant shutout win over the Sabres. The talk surrounds Martin Brodeur's pursuit of the shutout record, but Niclas Bergfors is quietly second in the league in rookie scoring with 20 points.
4. Blackhawks (2) Not a bad week for the Blackhawks, who went 2-1 after their spending spree. Still, the high-flying Hawks, who are averaging exactly three goals a game this year, only managed to pot five goals in their trio of contests.
5. Flames (6) Miika Kiprusoff has been finding his form lately, which is a good thing for the Flames, who aren't exactly lighting the lamp in December.
6. Penguins (4) A 1-2 week -- including a loss to the woeful Hurricanes -- drops the Pens a couple of spots. Sidney Crosby is on pace for by far his biggest goal-scoring season, but at about 25 minutes per game since returning from a groin injury, are the Pens putting their captain at risk?
7. Kings (7) Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown snapped slumps against the Sharks this week, and suddenly the balanced Kings are looking like a force. They've won three in a row, all against teams currently qualifying for the playoffs in the West.

8. Bruins (9) Take that, Phil Kessel. The Bruins outscored the Maple Leafs 12-4 in two games this week, and at 8-1-1 in their last 10, are again beginning to look like the team that controlled the East last year.
9. Sabres (8) A shutout loss to New Jersey had them questioning their identity, but they bounced back with a matching shutout win against the Capitals. They knew coming out of the three-game stretch against New Jersey, Washington and Chicago that they'd have a better idea of how good they are; the Friday contest against Chicago has turned into a rubber match.
10. Predators (11) The Predators are perhaps the quietest top-10 team in recent history. Don't look now, but the stingy, defensive-minded Preds are also averaging just a hair under four goals a game in December.
11. Thrashers (13) It's been a rough go lately in Atlanta, but they're still second in the Southeast. They're on pace for three different 30-goal scorers, and Nik Antropov has turned into a regular Joe Thornton with 21 assists, which bodes well for the team's chances of keeping Ilya Kovalchuk.
12. Avalanche (10) Is the real Colorado beginning to show? After their hot start, the Avalanche have fallen back to the pack. This ranking represents exactly what the team is at this point in the season -- a little better than average. They're still in the thick of the Western race, but they're beginning to lose ground quickly.
13. Coyotes (17) The Coyotes, meanwhile, are staying consistent. They've had a good month, as their only loss thus far was Thursday night's overtime defeat to the Kings, despite getting just seven total points out of their top five scorers in four December contests.
14. Canucks (12) Every time it seems the Canucks have something going, they find a way to slip (like dropping games to Carolina and Nashville after convincing wins against the Devils and Flyers). Still, this team hasn't had a chance to find its stride with so many games missed amongst their regulars.
15. Red Wings (16) The end of two eras? The Red Wings are powers no more, and Chris Osgood is being pushed out of his role by Netminder of the Future Jimmy Howard. Howard's looked good, but it hasn't helped the middling Wings, who dropped two of three games this week.
16. Islanders (19) A three-game skid has put a damper on the Isles' feel-good stretch, but those ups and downs are natural for a young team. They can still feel good about John Tavares, however, who has five points in four games this month.

17. Stars (15) The Stars picked up a pair of Bettman points in overtime losses to Edmonton and Anaheim. It's been a trend for Dallas, which has picked up nine points in overtime or shootout losses, most in the NHL.

18. Senators (14) It was an up-and-down week for Ottawa, who are still four games above .500 despite giving up more goals than they've scored. After a hot start, it's been a little slower for Milan Michalek lately. The forward has no goals and just one point in his last five games.

19. Blue Jackets (18) The Blue Jackets got their first shutout of the year from Steve Mason, but it may already be too little too late for the Blue Jackets, who aren't too far outside a playoff hunt in the West but are rapidly falling apart at just 2-5-3 in their last 10. In the competitive Central, they can't afford such lapses.

20. Flyers (20) New bench boss, same results: a 1-3 week for the Flyers that included a 8-2 embarrassment and a shutout loss to the Senators. Now without Ray Emery, it's not very sunny in Philadelphia at the moment.

21. Rangers (21) The week could have been worse for the Rangers, who beat the Sabres and went to overtime with the Blackhawks, but this team is still in trouble. They let Chicago get 41 shots on Henrik Lundqvist, a microcosm of the lack of heart and grit the team has shown all year.

22. Blues (23) Give credit to the Blues, who are at least trying to get back into the conversation. Still, they dropped another one at home this week. They'll have to improve that 5-9-2 record in St. Louis if they really want to make a push for the playoffs.

23. Ducks (25) The Ducks got four out of a possible six points this week, but the only team to allow more goals in the West this year is Columbus.

24. Lightning (24) Until December, Steven Stamkos had not gone more than two games without a goal (and those two were the first two games of the season). He's been goal-less and has just one point in his last six, however.

25. Canadiens (22) Not a bad week for the Canadiens, who notched three big wins, including two against teams ahead of them in the division. Still, the big injuries to Brian Gionta and Andrei Markov are going to test this team's mettle.

26. Wild (27) Don't look now, but a 7-2-1 run has the Wild right back in the thick of things. They went 3-1 last week and the duo of Mikko Koivu and Andrew Brunette have combined for 13 points in the last five games.

27. Oilers (26) Edmonton has rebounded from a three-game losing streak to take four straight, and Dustin Penner hasn't slowed down his comeback year.

28. Panthers (28) Losers of four straight (though they did pick up two Bettman points), the Panthers are already seemingly playing for next year with the news that they've put starting goalie Tomas Vokoun on the trade block.

29. Maple Leafs (29) The Maple Leafs are still showing signs of life, going 2-2 in the last week and 6-3-1 in their last 10. Still, their 111 goals allowed are the most in the NHL, and they're tied with Carolina for the worst goals against average in the league.

30. Hurricanes (30) The Hurricanes snuck a win on Pittsburgh and almost came back from a 3-0 deficit to shock New Jersey, and Brandon Sutter has been a pleasant surprise. That's the good news. But they've got the worst road record and goals against average in the league. With Cam Ward in net, that should show you how terrible their defense is.