Power Rankings: What's The Differential?

Goal differential is a quick and easy way to get an idea of how good or bad a team is. Over the summer we took a look at what it means when it comes to potential playoff spots, and what the non-playoff teams would have to do to get themselves into a position to qualify for the postseason.

Now that we're at the halfway point of the season (we just passed it last week), I wanted to take a look at how each team stands when it comes to goal differential. So, this week in our power rankings we're doing something a little different: the rankings are based simply on goal differential from best to worst. You might find that there really aren't many surprises.

1. Blackhawks (+53) Chicago is on a roll right now with wins in five straight games and eight of its past nine. The Blackhawks are also filling the net with regularity, scoring at least four goals in each of the past eight games.
2. Canucks (+37) Wow. Didn't expect to see Vancouver with such a good differential. Of course, maybe it shouldn't be that much of a surprise. It was only a matter of time until the Canucks started shooting up the standings. There's simply too much talent on this team to continue to play like they were earlier in the season. Quietly, Henrik Sedin has a three-point lead over Joe Thornton for the NHL scoring race.
3. Capitals (+34) Washington had a slump last week, losing three in a row against Carolina, San Jose and Los Angeles. Things are back to normal now thanks to consecutive wins against Montreal and Ottawa.
4. Sharks (+33) The Sharks finished last season with not only the best record in the NHL, but also the best goal-differential (+53). They're not on quite the same pace this season but they're still one of the elite clubs in the NHL.
5. Devils (+33) How good are the Devils defensively? They're only 16th in the NHL in terms of goals scored, but are still in the top-five in terms of goal-differential. No team has allowed fewer goals than New Jersey's 88. Behold! The power of Jacques.
6. Sabres (+21) Buffalo was so close to being a playoff team a season ago. Assuming Ryan Miller stays healthy they should be a lock this season.

7. Penguins (+17) The Penguins have been in a massive slump the past two weeks, losing eight of their past 10. Over the past two seasons the Penguins are 38-12-5 with Sergei Gonchar, and just 34-32-6 without him.
8. Flames (+15) Random observation: Miikka Kiprusoff is currently on a pace to start 70 games for the fifth straight season. That, my friends, is called durability.
9. Coyotes (+9) Still not sure how they're doing it, but it's hard not to root for the Coyotes, isn't it?
10. Bruins (+9) Is there a better goaltending duo in the NHL than Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask? You've got the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, and now Rask is leading the league in goals against average and No. 2 in save percentage (trailing only Ryan Miller).
11. Kings(+7) It might be time to put out an APB for Anze Kopitar. After a white-hot start that had him at the top of the NHL scoring race with 21 points in 14 games in October, Kopitar has fallen off the map with just 21 points over the next 30 games. And only nine since the start of December.
12. Flyers (+6) Peter Laviolette has the Flyers scoring goals and winning games. They're coming off a dominating 7-4 win in Pittsburgh and have scored 24 goals in the past five games. Like I mentioned above with Vancouver, this team has too much talent to struggle. It was only a matter of time.
13. Avalanche (+3) They've fallen down to the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference and are just four points ahead of Detroit in the No. 9 spot.
14. Predators (+2) It hasn't been quite as bad as Steve Mason's drop in Columbus, but Pekka Rinne's numbers have taken a bit of a fall after his impressive rookie campaign with the Predators.
15. Red Wings (+2) Now here's a season where nothing is going right. Detroit gets Henrik Zetterberg and Daniel Cleary back from injury ... and Tomas Holmstrom breaks his foot. Still, Cleary scored in his return on Thursday to help the Wings pick up a 2-1 win in Los Angeles.
16. Rangers (-4) Henrik Lundqvist is still keeping the puck out of the net, but other than Marian Gaborik, nobody can seem to score for the blue shirts. Ryan Callahan is the only other Ranger with at least 10 goals.

17. Thrashers (-5) Very good team offensively, but the bottom has fallen out for Ondrej Pavelec. He's lost eight of his past 10 starts.
18. Canadiens (-6) Welcome back, Andrei Markov. Since his return to the lineup the veteran rearguard has 13 points in 10 games since returning to the lineup. Not surprisingly, Montreal is 7-3 since his return.

19. Senators (-9) Ottawa is trying to stay in it without Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson. The Senators are currently No. 6 in the East, even with back-to-back losses to close out the week.

20. Stars (-12) After having their season derailed by injuries a year ago, the Stars have been a little bit luckier this season on the injury front. That is, until they lost Mike Ribeiro for four-to-six weeks.

21. Wild (-13) Last season Minnesota had the best goal-differential of any non-playoff team (+19). This season, it's been a slide in the opposite direction. It's going to be quite an uphill battle, but the playoffs are still within reach.

22. Panthers (-15) Tomas Vokoun has the sixth-best save percentage in the NHL, yet Florida has still given up 140 goals (25th in the NHL). I guess that's what happens when you give up almost 35 shots (worst in the league) per game.
23. Blues (-16) New head coach Davis Payne is still searching for his first win behind the bench for the Blues. They've been outscored 12-6 in his first three games.

24. Ducks (-17) Still the most confusing team in the NHL. Loads of talent, but the results just haven't been there.
25. Lightning (-20) Even with wins in five of their past eight the Lightning are still five points behind the No. 8 seed Montreal Canadiens. Meanwhile, get to know a little about second-year forward Steven Stamkos.
26. Islanders (-26) John Tavares' slump continues with just one point in 12 games. Meanwhile, Matt Moulson ended a nine-game scoring drought with a two-point effort during a 6-5 win against Atlanta on Saturday. And, hey, how about that goal from Rob Schremp?

27. Oilers (-26) Never a good thing when your coach is talking about how your team isn't smart. The one bright spot is that Dustin Penner is likely to set a new career-high in goals.
28. Blue Jackets (-33) It can't all be Steve Mason's fault, can it? Columbus has won just twice in its past 15 games and fallen to the bottom of the Western Conference standings.
29. Maple Leafs (-33) Head coach Ron Wilson called out his best player, Phil Kessel, in front of the media this week for scoring just one goal in his last 10 (insert bad words here) games. That's either going to light a fire or make things even worse.