Helene Elliott’s NHL rankings

Through Monday‘s games

Rank; Team; Record; (previous rank)

1. Vancouver; 27-8-6; Canucks’ eight-game winning streak ended with shootout loss to Detroit on Saturday but they’re 13-0-3 since last regulation defeat on Dec. 5. (1)

2. Detroit; 27-11-5; Loss to Colorado on Monday ended a three-game winning streak. Red Wings lost Brad Stuart to a broken jaw on ugly hit by Calgary’s Tom Kostopoulos. (4)

3. Philadelphia; 26-10-5; Flyers’ victory over New Jersey clinched All-Star coaching honors for Peter Laviolette. Should that be honor or headache? (2)

4. Washington; 24-12-6; Capitals are 6-0-2 since Dec. 12. And Alexander Ovechkin (15 goals) seems like he might be stirring out of his slump. (6)

5. Pittsburgh; 26-14-4; They’re 0-3 without Sidney Crosby (concussion). Penguins will need Evgeni Malkin and others to step up. (5)

6. Dallas; 25-13-5; Stars’ seventh consecutive road victory tied franchise record. Appropriately they did it in Minnesota, their ancestral home. (8)

7. N.Y. Rangers; 25-15-3; They’ve won three straight and lead the league with 15 road wins but lost winger Alexander Frolov for the season because of a serious knee injury. (13)

8. Nashville; 22-13-6; Predators completed a California sweep for only the second time in franchise history and have won five in a row. (16)

9. Boston; 22-12-7; Tim Thomas, who leads the NHL with a 1.84 goals-against average and .944 save percentage, continues to be the Bruins’ backbone. (9)

10. Tampa Bay; 25-13-5; Lightning blew a third-period lead to — ugh — the Devils on Sunday. Dan Ellis, who lost the starting job to Dwayne Roloson, was in net for the loss. (3)

11. Montreal; 23-16-3; Canadiens’ rally past Bruins on Saturday was the first time in 18 tries they won a game in which they trailed after two periods. (18)

12. Chicago; 23-18-3; Hawks to build statues of Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita outside United Center. Now if some of their defenseman stopped playing like statues inside the building… . (15)

13. Atlanta; 22-16-7; Thrashers have hit a skid, going 3-5-2 in their last 10. They were missing four top forwards Sunday at Carolina, including the suspended Ben Eager. (10)

14. Minnesota; 21-16-5; Wild won three straight on the road and four in a row overall before coming home to lose to Dallas. Home ice isn’t the advantage it used to be. (21)

15. Ducks; 23-18-4; Jonas Hiller is first Duck goalie to record two shutouts in a row since J.S. Giguere had three in a row in December 2002. (14)

16. Phoenix; 20-13-9; Enforcer/Twitter star Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) was ranked No. 100 on The Hockey News’ list of People of Power and Influence. Whatta country. (19)

17. Colorado; 22-15-6; Avalanche broke out of a slump Monday with a big home win over the Red Wings. (17)

18. Kings; 23-18-1; It’s tough to go 1-5 on an eight-game homestand, but they’ve done it. Overall, they’ve lost six of seven. (12)

19. San Jose; 21-17-5; The Sharks have lost a season-worst four straight and have scored only one goal in their last three games. Talent and heart are two different things. (7)

20. St. Louis; 20-15-6; The Blues have lost four straight, including three at home. (11)

21. Buffalo; 18-18-5; Sabres have pieced together a 4-0-1 streak though they’re still not scoring much and goalie Ryan Miller (2.62, .913) has slipped since last season. (25)

22. Carolina; 20-15-6; Rookie goalie Justin Peters wins back-to-back decisions while Cam Ward recovers from the dreaded lower-body injury. Lot of that going around. (20)

23. N.Y. Islanders; 13-21-6; Goalie Kevin Poulin earned his first NHL win Saturday in OT victory over Colorado. Isles are 8-3-1 in their last 12. (26)

24. Toronto; 17-20-4; Maple Leafs’ win in front of friendly crowd in Los Angeles gave them their first three-game winning streak since they opened the season 4-0. (27)

25. Florida; 18-20-2; The Panthers have lost three straight. They might try overhauling their power play, which has scored a league-low 12 goals and has an 8.8% success rate. (24)

26. Calgary; 18-20-4; New General Manager Jay Feaster is still figuring out what to do with a high-salaried, low-producing team. (22)

27. Columbus; 20-19-3; Blue Jackets have lost four straight and are 1-9-2 in their last 12 road games. (23)

28. Ottawa; 16-20-6; Goaltender Pascal Leclaire is injured again and has played only 14 games. Brian Elliott has been erratic lately. (28)

29. Edmonton; 13-20-7; Oilers have won only twice in their last 12 games. That learning curve is tricky for a young team. (29)

30. New Jersey; 11-29-2; Devils gave Jamie Langenbrunner away and would like to deal Patrik Elias, among others. (30)

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