NHL Power Rankings: The Capitals Roll the Wings, the Avs and Stars Remain on Top

In a game that was supposed to be a battle between the best team from each conference, the Capitals made the Red Wings look like an AHL team.

Colorado and Dallas continue to be surprise teams, while the Islanders have regressed to the mean.

St. Louis and Carolina, who were projected to be bubble teams, continue to hold their fans in limbo with inconsistency.

Fans along the bay in Tampa and San Jose are wondering when their teams will return to form and overcome their losses in the Western and Eastern Conferences, respectively.

Pittsburgh continues to win without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

The James Neal trade appears to be working out.

The following are all 30 teams ranked based on their recent performances.

30. Columbus Blue Jackets

Last week: 29

This team is junk.

The Jackets have yet to win a game, and it doesn’t get any easier.

They finish up the month against Detroit, Buffalo, Chicago and Anaheim.

29. Montreal Canadiens

The Habs have won one game since the season started… against Winnipeg.

An OT loss to Toronto marks an early low point the season.

28. Winnipeg Jets

Last week: 30

Wins against Pittsburgh and Carolina are nothing to sneeze at.

Those are the team’s only two wins, however.

27. Ottawa Senators

Last week: 28

If only the Senators could score five goals a game.

Ottawa owns a top-10 offense and power play, but are giving up 4.3 goals per game (worst in NHL).

26. Edmonton Oilers

Last week: 26

Solid defense can take a team far in this league, but the Oil own the game’s worst offense.

The team has only scored more than one goal in two contests this year.

25. Calgary Flames

Last week: 27

The Flames are 1-2 in their most recent homestand.

They get three more games in the Saddledome before a difficult road trip that pits them against Detroit, Buffalo and Colorado.

24. Florida Panthers

Last week: 25

Following two shutout losses to Washington and Buffalo, the Panthers were able to pin four goals on the Islanders.

The Cats start next week on the road, facing Montreal, Ottawa and Buffalo before ending the month at home against Winnipeg.

23. New York Rangers

Last week: 22

The Rangers should be playing better than this.

The Blueshirt'  only impressive win this season was a 4-0 decision against the Western Conference Champion Canucks (who, in reality, are underperforming now).

A 2-0 loss to Edmonton indicates something is seriously wrong in the Big Apple.

22. Tampa Bay Lightning

Last week: 21

Tampa Bay finally started winning.

After dropping five straight, the Bolts rolled over the Islanders and shut out the mighty Sabres.

A rematch in Buffalo is must watch TV on Tuesday. It will be aired at 7:30 ET on Versus.

21. New Jersey Devils

Last week: 18

With a three-game win streak going until losing to San Jose in a shootout, the Devils showed promise early in the season.

Then they were rolled by Pittsburgh.

Next week, they play Los Angeles, Phoenix and Dallas away from the Garden State.

20. Phoenix Coyotes

Last week: 16

Since beating Nashville and Winnipeg, the Coyotes lost games to Chicago and LA by a combined score of 7-2.

Three of Phoenix’s next four games come against Pacific Division opponents, giving the team an idea of where they measure up early in the season.

19. Minnesota Wild

Last week: 19

It took a shootout to beat Edmonton, but the Wild took the Canucks to overtime.

Minnesota needs to show more consistency if they’re going to go anywhere this year.

18. Carolina Hurricanes

Last week: 20

Carolina took two from Boston and beat Buffalo in Western New York…then lost in St. Louis and Winnipeg.

The Canes will have to be more consistent if they’re going to make a splash in the Southeast Division this year.

17. Nashville Predators

Last week: 17

Ending the road trip with a win over Calgary should help the Preds get their spirits up.

However, losses to Phoenix, New Jersey, Edmonton and Vancouver indicate that they’ve got a lot of prove in their next three home games against San Jose, Tampa Bay and Anaheim.

16. New York Islanders

Last week: 8

Killing penalties at a 91.7 percent rate (third in NHL), the Islanders were able to put together a three-game win streak.

Then they stumbled in Florida, losing to both Sunshine State opponents by a combined score of 8-3.

It doesn’t get any easier. They have a home-and-home with Pittsburgh and a game in San Jose next week.

15. St. Louis Blues

Last week: 15

St. Louis is winning against quality opponents—San Jose, Carolina and Philly could all make the playoffs this year.

Then again, the Blues struggled in SoCal, losing to the Ducks and Kings by a combined score of 9-2, including a 5-0 loss to the Kings.

The Blues will finish the month in Canada, with an opportunity to prove themselves against Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.

14. Vancouver Canucks

Last week: 14

The Canucks are hoping that their recent trade with Florida will be the jolt they need to get back to their winning ways.

Prognosis looks good. Before the trade, the team crushed Nashville and beat Minnesota in OT.

The trade for David Booth should help them.

13. San Jose Sharks

Last week: 23

With a scrappy, come-from-behind victory against New Jersey and a 4-2 win over the defending champs, San Jose has a good start to their road trip.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Sharks, however. Nashville, Detroit, the Islanders and Rangers still remain on the slate before the team returns to the Bay Area.

12. Philadelphia Flyers

Last week: 5

The Flyers have dropped three of their last four, albeit to strong clubs.

Los Angeles, Washington and St. Louis are all playoff-caliber teams.

Ottawa, the team the Flyers beat, are not.

Fortunately, the schedule gets a little easier next week. Philly faces Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Carolina to finish off the month.

11. Toronto Maple Leafs

Last week: 7

Save for an embarrassing loss to division rival Boston, the Leafs are playing solid hockey.

They beat archrival Montreal in overtime and only have two losses all year.

They will be tested next week with games against Philly, the Rangers and Pittsburgh.

10. Boston Bruins

Last week: 12

Boston is an enigma.

They’ve blown Tampa and Toronto out of the water, but were crushed by Carolina and San Jose last week.

A home-and-home against Montreal will give the team an opportunity to see how they square up against their division. Both games will be on NHL Network.

9. Anaheim Ducks

Last week: 13

The Ducks have stuck to what’s always been their strong suit: defense.

It’s worked for them. They had a four-game win streak going before dropping a 3-1 decision to Dallas.

8. Chicago Blackhawks

Last week: 11

Chicago needs to get the power play going, but otherwise are playing solid hockey.

Last week, the Hawks rolled over Phoenix and split a home-and-home against a hot Colorado team.

7. Buffalo Sabres

Last week: 4

The Sabres had a three-game win streak going before being shut out in Tampa.

Three for four on the road is not too shabby, though.

Buffalo gets Tampa at home, a game that initiates a five-game homestand.

In fact, the Sabres will play six of their next seven games in Western New York.

This is an opportunity for the Sabres to break away from the pack in the Northeast Division.

6. Detroit Red Wings

Last week: 1

The Wings won six straight and then went to Washington…

A 7-1 loss to the Capitals is an early indicator of who’s on top of the pack in the NHL.

Next week, the Wings will play a game on the NHL Network against the Sharks. It’s an early season test for two teams that have met in the playoffs in the last two years.

5. Los Angeles Kings

Last week: 10

The Kings have won Bill Simmons over. You should buy into them, too.

LA has won four-straight and hasn’t given up a goal in three games.

4. Pittsburgh Penguins

Last week: 6

In the absence of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, James Neal has become the go-to guy in Pittsburgh.

Neal leads the team with eight goals and nine points.

3. Dallas Stars

Last week: 3

Behind a solid defense and penalty kill, Dallas had a five-game win streak going until losing in Los Angeles on Saturday.

They get a chance to return the favor when the Kings come to the big D on Thursday.

2. Colorado Avalanche

Last week: 9

The Avs are still struggling on defense, but have played well in other aspects of the game.

Since losing to Detroit on opening night, Colorado has played six games away from Denver—and won them all.

The one game they’ve played at home? They lost…

Colorado will play another away game in Calgary and then get four of five at home.

They’ll have to prove they can win in the Pepsi Center.

1. Washington Capitals

Last week: 2

By crushing Detroit 7-1, the undefeated Capitals established themselves as the best team in the NHL.

Tom Schreier covers hockey and baseball for Bleacher Report.

Follow him on Twitter @tschreier3.