NHL Power Rankings: Devils and Coyotes Heat Up, Lightning, Stars Begin to Fade

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Four franchises on the playoff bubble—the Devils, Coyotes, Lightning and Stars—were in need of a playoff berth this season.

Only two look poised to make it, however.

New Jersey, a team in a saturated hockey market, is on a tear.

They’re 7-1-2 in their last ten and currently occupy the No. 6 spot in the East. With 70 points, they could potentially take the No. 2 spot in the Atlantic.

Phoenix is hot too. They need a playoff run if they’re going to stay in Glendale next season.

They’re 8-1-1 in their last ten and they, not the hyped Los Angeles Kings, are the second Pacific team in the Western Conference playoff picture.

Unfortunately, the Lightning, a team with a large barn and few playoff appearances, and the Stars, a once-proud franchise with serious financial issues, will probably not get much-needed playoff appearances this year.

Following a run to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, the Bolts renovated their arena and donned new uniforms.

The new era will begin without a playoff appearance, however. The team is in seller mode, having jettisoned Dominic Moore and Pavel Kubina in recent trades.

Dallas started the year strong, but like the Colorado Avalanche, appear to be fading from the tight playoff picture in the West.

It’s not over until it’s over, and the Stars are far from eliminated, but Phoenix and Los Angeles look stronger in their division, and it’s not likely all three will make the playoffs.

30. Minnesota Wild

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Last week: 30

Currently on a seven-game losing streak, a season that started with so much promise has gone awry for the Wild.

Minnesota has a large hill to climb if they want to get back into the playoff picture.

29. Columbus Blue Jackets

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Last week: 29

A 2-1 win over the surging Blues looks good.

A 6-1 loss to the reeling Hawks, however, indicates that these are the same ol’ Jackets.

28. Edmonton Oilers

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Last week: 25

The Oil have only one win in their last five games.

It’s been another tough year for the Edmonton faithful…

27. New York Islanders

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Last week: 21

The Islanders have not strung together two wins since the beginning of the month and remain in the Atlantic Division cellar.

26. Buffalo Sabres

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Last week: 26

Buffalo enters the week on the four-game losing streak.

During that time they have been outscored 17-7.

25. Carolina Hurricanes

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Last week: 28

The Canes had a nice little thing going there, with wins over Montreal and San Jose.

Then they lost to the Islanders…

24. Montreal Canadiens

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Last week: 15

Montreal sits in a pack of teams that are six points out of a playoff spot.

It will take a miracle run for this team to make it at this point.

23. Anaheim Ducks

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Last week: 27

The Devils snapped a three-game road winning streak for the Ducks.

Anaheim still has to play three more away games before returning home to take on Chicago in a nationally televised game on the 26th.

22. Tampa Bay Lightning

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Last week: 18

They’re sellers.

After a breakthrough season last year, the Lightning have sucked it up and started selling spare parts in preparation for a comeback season next year.

21. Colorado Avalanche

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Last week: 20

With only three wins in January, the Avs have relinquished their No. 2 spot in the division and are falling out of the playoff picture.

20. Winnipeg Jets

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Last week: 16

With four wins in their last six games, the resilient Jets are sticking around in a weak division.

19. Dallas Stars

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Last week: 24

With only one win in their last five games, the Stars are slowly falling out of the playoff picture.

Fortunately, the team still has 24 games left to play.

18. Washington Capitals

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Last week: 14

In position to commandeer the division, Washington has fallen flat.

The Caps only have one win in their last five games.

17. Florida Panthers

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Last week: 13

The Cats have dropped two in a row by a combined score of 8-3.

One of those losses came at home against Washington, a team poised to wrestle control of the division away from them.

16. Toronto Maple Leafs

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Last week: 12

The Leafs faithful have to be irate that their seemingly playoff-bound squad has only one win (in OT…against Edmonton) in their last six contests.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier either.

Toronto faces New Jersey, San Jose, Washington, Florida and Chicago to finish off the month.

15. Ottawa Senators

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Last week: 17

Following a seven-game losing streak, the Sens have won three of four and are solidifying themselves as a playoff team.

14. Los Angeles Kings

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Last week: 19

Los Angeles currently sits on the Western Conference playoff bubble.

This is not the right time of year to only have one win in their last five games played…

13. Chicago Blackhawks

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Last week: 16

It’s been well documented: the Hawks are struggling, and Joel Quenneville is on the hot seat.

Chicago snapped their nine-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the mighty Rangers in the Garden and then vented their frustrations on the Blue Jackets in Columbus (6-1).

12. Philadelphia Flyers

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Last week: 8

Currently the No. 2 seed in the powerful Atlantic Division, the Flyers know that they have Pittsburgh and New Jersey breathing down their necks.

They only have three wins in February and have lost to the Rangers (5-2, twice), Penguins (6-4), Devils (6-4) and Islanders (1-0 SO) recently.

11. Calgary Flames

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Last week: 21

Winners of three of their last four, Calgary has ascended to the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference.

They’ve got a chance to create some separation there too.

The Flames play their next four games in the Saddledome.

10. San Jose Sharks

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Last week: 7

The road has been tough on the Sharks.

San Jose is 1-2-1 on their current trip and have five more games to go.

9. Nashville Predators

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Last week: 6

The Preds came close to snapping Detroit’s home streak, but otherwise have been putrid of late.

They got a win over struggling Chicago, but have only one win in their last five games.

8. Phoenix Coyotes

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Last week: 10

With only one loss in January, a 2-1 shootout decision in Vancouver, the Coyotes (yes, the Coyotes) are solidifying a playoff spot for themselves.

7. Boston Bruins

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Last week: 9

The once-mighty Bruins have not strung together wins since mid-January.

Recent losses to Buffalo (6-0) and Winnipeg (4-2) look bad, but Boston still remains first in the Northeast and second in the Eastern Conference.

6. Pittsburgh Penguins

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Last week: 4

The Penguins have won three of their last four and are poised to take Philadelphia’s spot as the No. 2 team in the mighty Atlantic…

If the Devils don’t beat them to it.

5. New Jersey Devils

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Last week: 11

There was a little hiccup, but otherwise it’s been a solid month for New Jersey.

The Devils have six wins in February.

4. St. Louis Blues

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Last week: 5

St. Louis has only two losses this month and has the state of Missouri (and the NHL community) believing this squad is poised for a playoff run.

3. Vancouver Canucks

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Last week: 3

Vancouver continues to hum along.

The Canucks have only two losses, both in shootouts, this month.

2. New York Rangers

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Last week: 1

The Rangers had won six of their first seven games in February.

Then they lost to struggling Chicago in the Garden.

Oops…

1. Detroit Red Wings

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Last week: 2

In case you missed it, the Red Wings had 22 straight home wins entering their contest against San Jose.

Safe to say, this team is pretty good.