Power Rankings: Capital City

We seem to be establishing a top tier of teams that will stay there every week. One of them doesn't appear ready to give up the No. 1 position, as the Capitals hold on to that again this week.

However, the middle of the standings are still a jumbled mess.

While some teams have set themselves up for lower-tier finishes no matter what, there are a couple who looked lost before the Olympics, but are making a last-ditch run at a playoff spot now.

1. Washington Capitals (Last Week: 1) -- Goaltending, or lack thereof, became a topic again after rookie Semyon Varlamov and the Capitals' defense allowed the Dallas Stars to overcome a two-goal, third-period deficit on Monday. Of course, the team's league-leading plus-75 goal differential has allowed the Capitals to the become the first team to lock up a playoff berth.

2. San Jose Sharks (2) -- The Sharks hung a snowman on the normally tough and defensive-minded Predators Thursday night at the Shark Tank. It's a clear sign of what this team is capable of: mind-blowing firewagon hockey. Of course, this is rarely a formula for success in the playoffs.

3. Chicago Blackhawks (3) -- Chicago keeps managing to stay with the Sharks' pace in the West, but they don't seem capable of completing the pass. If the Blackhawks keep playing well, they'll at least be in a position to keep the pressure on the Sharks all the way through the end of the regular season.

4. Pittsburgh Penguins (6) -- Winners of four in a row -- before Thursday's overtime loss at Carolina -- and few signs of post-Olympics wear and tear. Watch out for Ruslan Fedotenko, who has his quiet moments during the dog days of the regular season but loves this time of year.

5. Vancouver Canucks (5) -- Out of a possible 28 points on their insane 14-game road trip, the Canucks picked up 17, and that's pretty impressive, given the odyssey they were on. Now, Vancouver gets to play games on the home ice, and that will conceivably be a help to their Northwest Division lead.

6. New Jersey Devils (4) -- Zach Parise said his team needed that 6-3 win over the Rangers on Wednesday as much as their rivals, and he was right. Jacques Lemaire hosted a team meeting. The message: we're 39-23-3, but we're not that good.

7. Buffalo Sabres (11) -- The Sabres have won three of four Ryan Miller starts since the Olympic break. That -- and a four-point game from rookie defenseman Tyler Myers -- are the kind of efforts they're going to need to hold off Ottawa down the stretch.

8. Ottawa Senators (9) -- Excluding a win against league-worst Edmonton, the Sens are 0-3-1 with three goals scored since the break. Worst of all they have goaltending issues with both Bryan Elliott and Pascal Leclaire going from stellar to shaky and back over the past 10 days.

9. Phoenix Coyotes (8) -- Phoenix continues to impress, but their fourth-place position in the West will be severely tested by a schedule that includes 11 of 15 games on the road down the stretch. The Coyotes are 15-12-3 away from Jobing.com Arena this season.

10. Los Angeles Kings (7) -- Neither the Kings nor Coyotes are going to catch San Jose for the Pacific Division title, but they have the inside track on the final home-ice position for the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. Los Angeles has a more favorable schedule, but neither team's on-ice play recently gives them a decided edge in this race.

11. Colorado Avalanche (10) -- The one-time Northwest leaders have fallen off a bit, but still trail Vancouver by just three points. Craig Anderson's shutout of his former team -- Florida -- Thursday is a hopeful sign for the Avalanche, who just don't score enough goals to win consistently without Anderson continuing to play well.

12. Philadelphia Flyers (14) -- Even without a surefire No. 1 goaltender, the Flyers will make the playoffs on skill and grit. Will that be enough to go far? Probably not.

13. Nashville Predators (12) -- Don't worry about San Jose's outburst. This is a good, tough defensive team, and Thursday was an unfortunate (for them) aberration. Nashville is far from a playoff lock, but they have enough grit and goaltending to last in this race.

14. Montreal Canadiens (21) -- The Habs sneaked by Edmonton on Thursday night for their fifth win since the break. Are they already making plans for opening round playoff riots in Montreal?

15. Calgary Flames (19) -- They've shown some life since the break ended, but Calgary is still not where people thought they would be when the season started. A four-game win streak has them back in eighth place, and the head-to-head win they got over Detroit this week could be huge for their confidence.

16. Boston Bruins (18) -- The Bruins have won seven of ten and, like most of their division, are making a healthy playoff push. Forget the Atlantic, we may have four Northeast teams in the playoffs this year.

17. Detroit Red Wings (15) -- This battle will continue right through the end of the season. Detroit showed some offensive flash with a dominant win over Minnesota Thursday, but those flashes don't come often enough, even though Detroit has generally gotten good goaltending from youngster Jimmy Howard.

18. New York Rangers (16) -- They're 14-15-6 at home and could miss the playoffs, but at least John Tortorella has them traveling on the same bus to New Jersey and Long Island. Never mind that the Rangers routinely kicked butt there before the new coach showed up.

19. St. Louis Blues (13) -- With one more road win, the Blues will become just the third Western Conference team to reach 20 wins away from home. Of course, a 12-16-5 home record means the Blues are still on the wrong side of the West's top eight.

20. Dallas Stars (22) -- Because of their ability to lose games after regulation time, the Stars are still alive in the West, despite having the third-fewest wins (29) in the West. They'll get better, but this largely young team just doesn't appear to be good enough to stick around.

21. Minnesota Wild (17) -- After flirting with playoff contention, the Wild have lost too many points since the Olympic break. They're nine points out, and the inability to put together 60-minute performances will doom their chances.

22. Carolina Hurricanes (24) -- Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said the Hurricanes were hardly conceding the playoffs when they were sellers at deadline and appears he's right. The 'Canes are 3-1-1 since the deadline, including an OT win against Pittsburgh on Thursday. Impressive, but time is running out quick to overcome a two-win October.

23. Anaheim Ducks (23) -- Much like the Wild, this team gives away way too many points to stay alive much longer. Anaheim isn't nearly as good offensively as they used to be, and the defense has turned from stingy to leaky this season, making it tough for them to win, despite some great efforts from Jonas Hiller in goal.

24. Atlanta Thrashers (20) -- Trading high-scoring forward Ilya Kovalchuk and goalie Kari Lehtonen wasn't supposed to be a sign of surrender, but the results say otherwise. The Thrashers have lost four of five games since --- the last with 48-year-old Chris Chelios on the ice.

25. Tampa Bay Lightning (25) -- The Lightning made barely a ripple at the deadline and Steven Stamkos, no matter how well he's played this season, may not be enough to get Tampa Bay into the playoffs. Losers of six of the last seven games, times running out and the schedule only gets tougher as the season winds down.

26. Florida Panthers (26) -- The Panthers seemed to find some scoring punch, scoring 14 goals in the three games before realizing they were the Florida Panthers. Colorado blanked Florida Thursday and they are about to face four consecutive playoff teams.

27. Columbus Blue Jackets (27) -- Give Columbus credit. They're not giving up. It doesn't revive their realistic playoff hopes, but the Blue Jackets have won two straight, and they're getting close to the non-playoff midpack in the West.

28. New York Islanders (28) -- A 3-14 slide has derailed playoff hopes. You know you're out of it when Josh Bailey, a first round pick from 2008 with two full NHL seasons on his resume, is placed on the Clear Day roster to play in the AHL playoffs.

29. Maple Leafs (29) -- The Maple Leafs are five points into the cellar of the Eastern Conference. Time to start fawning over draft picks, Toronto. Oh, wait. About that... Sorry. As a small morsel of consolation, the next two games are against roommates Edmonton and the Islanders.

30. Edmonton Oilers (30) -- Pat Quinn continues to have Edmonton playing hard, but it's just not good enough. The Oilers have the worst goal differential (minus-63) in the league, and they are 16 points behind Columbus if they want to climb out of the West cellar.