Red Wings ready to fly

Pavel Datsyuk and the Detroit Red Wings sit two points off the Western Conference pace with a 5-1-1 record. (Photo by Dave Reginek/ NHLI via Getty Images)

Adam Proteau
2010-10-27 16:15:00

It's Week 3 of this season's Power Rankings – and for the second time, the Detroit Red Wings are atop our list.

In seven games this season, the Wings have lost just once in regulation and just twice overall. The Nashville Predators, our No. 2 team this week, are the only team that hasn't lost over the course of three periods, but they have lost three games in overtime.

Elsewhere, the Calgary Flames and New York Rangers have made significant jumps in our rankings, while the Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Thrashers and Edmonton Oilers are plummeting down the list.

THE HOCKEY NEWS POWER RANKINGS
RK.	TEAM	LW	OVERALL	THE SCOOP
1		4	5-1-1	Wings have the NHL’s top penalty kill, fourth-best faceoff win percentage
2		7	5-0-3	Only the Bruins and Blues have allowed fewer goals per game
3		8	6-2-0	Willie Mitchell (23:36 of average ice time per game) and Jack Johnson (24:21) stepping up for injured Drew Doughty
4		1	5-2-1	Points aren’t coming, but Mikhail Grabovski leads all Leafs in plus/minus (plus-6)
5		2	5-2-1	Steven Stamkos, Martin St-Louis account for nearly one-third of Bolts’ combined goals and assists total (24 of 75)
6		20	6-3-0	Formerly dormant offense exploded for 15 goals in past three games
7		11	5-2-1	Winning despite league’s worst power play (6.9 percent efficiency)
8		14	4-1-2	Light week coming up for Blues: games Thursday and Saturday, then four days off
9		13	5-3-1	Alex Goligoski leading all Pens skaters in ice time (25:09)
10		6	5-3-0	Three-games-in-four-nights road trip starts Wednesday in Carolina
11		10	4-2-2	High scoring Isles haven’t won when trailing after one period
12		27	4-2-1	Brandon Dubinsky doing it all for Blueshirts with seven points in seven games and 21:41 of ice time per game
13		5	5-3-0	Loui Eriksson has five goals on 14 shots – a whopping 35.7 shooting percentage
14		23	5-3-0	Rookie Nikita Filatov still hasn’t earned trust of coach Scott Arniel, only averaging 11:25 per game
15		3	5-4-1	This is an all-points bulletin for the goal-scoring skills of Patrick Kane. If you find them, please contact Joel Quenneville immediately
16		9	4-2-0	Injury to Johnny Boychuk has Bruins brass intensifying their search for blueline help
17		16	4-3-0	One-third of Jussi Jokinen’s 30 goals last season came on the power play; he’s already got two extra strength markers this year, but none at even strength
18		21	4-3-2	Christian Ehrhoff has been Canucks’ best D-man
19		26	3-3-1	All three Sharks games this week are winnable: Wednesday vs. Devils; Saturday vs. Ducks; Tuesday at Wild
20		22	3-3-2	Power play is lights out (a league-best 34.3 percent) and Mikko Koivu, Matt Cullen and Niklas Backstrom have been strong; everyone else, not so much
21		18	4-4-1	Scott Hartnell already has 39 minutes in penalties; in addition to cutting his hair, can he also cut the undisciplined play?
22		12	4-4-1	Avs’ power play can’t get much better, but their penalty kill can’t get much worse
23		25	2-3-3	Yotes face tough test in Wings, Lightning this week
24		19	3-4-0	Hard-luck Panthers jobbed by missed call in Toronto; if they keep effort up, they won’t be among league’s dregs for long
25		24	4-5-1	Ducks’ defense is weaker than Ilya Kovalchuk’s excuse for missing a Devils team meeting
26		30	3-5-1	Puny offense, porous defense should spell change in Sensville soon
27		17	2-4-1	Good start to season fading fast in pained eyes of Oilers fans
28		15	3-4-1	Fredrik Modin a minus-7 while averaging just 11:46 per game
29		28	3-6-1	Is it finally time for Darcy Regier/Lindy Ruff partnership to end?
30		29	2-6-1	Tough times continue for proud organization