Power Rankings: White hot Blue Jackets enjoying life in NHL's penthouse

The Blue Jackets have still played the fewest games in the league, but still find themselves at the top of the NHL's standings.

It took the Columbus Blue Jackets until Jan. 13 to win their 16th game last season. All they’ve done is won that many in a little over a month. The Blue Jackets have not lost since before American Thanksgiving. Their power play is off the charts, their goaltending ridiculously good and they’re getting scoring from everywhere in the lineup.

So really, it comes as no surprise that a team on the cusp of NHL history is once again sitting on top of thn.com’s weekly Power Rankings. (Last week’s rankings in parentheses):

THE CREAM OF THE CROP

1. Columbus Blue Jackets (1)

2. Pittsburgh Penguins (3)

3. Washington Capitals (7)

4. Minnesota Wild (2)

5. Montreal Canadiens (11)

6. New York Rangers (5)

7. Anaheim Ducks (15)

8. St. Louis Blues (13)

9. Los Angeles Kings (20)

10. San Jose Sharks (4)

The Blue Jackets can tie the NHL record of 17 straight wins with a victory over Washington Thursday, a team they’ve already beaten twice this season…With Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel, the Penguins are the only team in the NHL with more than one player in top-10 scoring…By giving up five goals in a 6-5 overtime win over Toronto Tuesday night, Washington fell from first to third in the NHL in goals-against…For Thursday’s game against San Jose, Jordan Schroeder will be moved to the top line with Eric Staal and Zach Parise…If Alex Radulov played every game the way he did in the 2-1 overtime win over Nashville Tuesday night, he’d be in the running for MVP…After taking a hit on New Year’s Eve against Colorado, Matt Puempel is out for the second time this season with a concussion…The Ducks are a mind-boggling 0-7 in overtime this season. Including shutouts, they’re 2-8 in games that go to extra time…The Blues would be running away with the Central Division if they were better on the road, where they have a dismal 5-10-1 record…The Kings have scored only seven goals in four games against division rival San Jose in four games, but have a 2-2-0 record…On his fourth recall of the season, defenseman Mirco Mueller finally made his season debut in a 2-1 overtime loss to Los Angeles Tuesday night.

THE MUSHY MIDDLE

11. Chicago Blackhawks (9)

12. Vancouver Canucks (29)

13. Toronto Maple Leafs (19)

14. Calgary Flames (6)

15. New Jersey Devils (28)

16. Edmonton Oilers (14)

17. Philadelphia Flyers (8)

18. Ottawa Senators (12)

19. Boston Bruins (21)

20. Florida Panthers (24)

Don’t be surprised if the Blackhawks take a pass on their next opportunity to play an outdoor game. They’re 1-4-0 when they take their game outdoors…Ryan Miller picked up his 350th career win, good for 21st on the NHL’s all-time list, in the Canucks 3-2 win over Colorado Monday night…The Maple Leafs have blown two-goal leads in the third period in three of their past four games, but have points in all of them…Mikael Backlund has five goals and eight points for the Flames in his past four games…Playing in his 350th straight game, defenseman Andy Greene left the Devils 3-1 win over Carolina Tuesday night after getting hit by a puck…Oilers coach Todd McLellan on his team’s play in a 3-1 loss to Columbus Tuesday night: “We didn’t even come close to their pace or their tenacity or their relentlessness. We weren’t anywhere near it.”…Losers of four straight, the Flyers will be out tonight out to avenge a 3-2 loss to the Rangers on Nov. 25. In that game, the Flyers had a 78-39 advantage in shot attempts. After that defeat, the Flyers went on a 10-game winning streak…Some teams have more prospects playing at the World Junior Championship, but when two of them are Colin White of USA and Thomas Chabot of Canada, you can understand why the Senators are excited about the future…Torey Krug and Ryan Spooner had five-game point streaks halted in Boston’s 3-0 loss to New Jersey Monday night…After playing just one of the Panthers’ first 17 games, 39-year-old Shawn Thornton has played in 10 straight going into tonight’s game in Winnipeg.

VYING FOR THE PARTICIPATION BADGE

21. New York Islanders (16)

22. Winnipeg Jets (18)

23. Buffalo Sabres (22)

24. Carolina Hurricanes (10)

25. Tampa Bay Lightning (23)

26. Nashville Predators (25)

27. Dallas Stars (17)

28. Detroit Red Wings (26)

29. Colorado Avalanche (29)

30. Arizona Coyotes (30)

The Islanders have won four of their past five to get to the NHL’s phony version of .500 (15-15-6) for the first time this season…The Jets will play on back-to-back nights for the seventh time this season when they visit Florida tonight. They’re 3-2-1 in the second of those games so far…The Sabres have “exploded” for four goals twice in the past four games. That’s a monumental achievement for this team…The Hurricanes’ 3-1 loss to New Jersey Tuesday night in front of just 8,998 fans marked the first time in 12 home games they hadn’t picked up at least a point…Left winger Ryan Callahan returned to the Lightning lineup for his team’s 6-4 loss to Winnipeg Tuesday night after missing 15 games with a hip injury…P.K. Subban said he’s “seeing progress” while sitting out with an upper-body injury, but there’s no timetable for his return…Jamie Benn will miss Wednesday night’s game against Montreal with a groin injury…With two goals for the Red Wings in the Centennial Classic, Anthony Mantha has 5-4-9 totals in the past six games…There is speculation the Avs will sign first-round pick Tyson Jost, currently playing for Canada in the WJC, after his NCAA season ends at North Dakota…The Coyotes have won all of three games since the American Thanksgiving weekend.