Heading into the final stretch of the season, the Minnesota Wild have shot up to the top of the NHL Power Rankings, ahead of the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks.
The Wild were a good team looking for competent goaltending and apparently found a lot more than that when they traded for Devan Dubnyk. In any case, they have four regulation losses in the past 30 games, and surrendered an average of 22.8 shots against in those four losses
The Rangers climb to second spot, after going on a run without their best player. With Henrik Lundqvist back and Martin St. Louis due to return, the Blueshirts are getting healthy at the right time too.
Among the big movers since the last rankings, the Anaheim Ducks and Winnipeg Jets each gained three spots, to six and 14, respectively.
Heading the other way, the St. Louis Blues slide from top spot to five, as they are missing a couple of top forwards and have gone six straight without a regulation win and the injury-ravaged Tampa Bay Lightning slide from two to seven. The Detroit Red Wings, with injuries and shaky goaltending, have crashed from eight to 17.
As for Canadian teams, the Montreal Canadiens remain highest, at 10, three spots ahead of the Ottawa Hamburglars. The Vancouver Canucks remain at 16, three ahead of the Calgary Flames, and the Edmonton Oilers are up a couple of spots to 27, leapfrogging the Toronto Maple Leafs, holding steady at 28.
Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca