Power Rankings: How low can the Islanders go? Scroll down to find out

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ESPN.com

Often blasted for screwing things up, it's time to give the NHL credit for doing something right.

This week's outdoor game at Chicago's Wrigley Field between Original Six and Central Division rivals, the Blackhawks and Red Wings, is about the best matchup possible to help the buzz of the event.

Incredibly entertaining Chicago is riding a nine-game winning streak into Tuesday night's first half of the home-and-home series against potent Stanley Cup champion Detroit, conspiring for another memorable Winter Classic on New Year's Day.

In anticipation, the Blackhawks have leaped over the Red Wings in our Power Rankings.

Meanwhile, at the other end, there is a new No. 30, as the Tampa Bay Lightning pulled out of the cellar with a three-game winning streak.

That helped push the New York Islanders down to the bottom, although the Atlanta Thrashers are threatening to unseat them at any time.

No matter which end you care about, you can discuss it here.

-- By Jim Wilkie; posted on Dec. 29

2008-2009 Power Rankings: Week 10
	RK (PV)	TEAM	REC.	COMMENT
	1 (1)	Bruins	27-5-4	Not only are the streaking Bruins, who have won eight in a row, leading the league with 130 goals, their 88 even-strength goals are also No. 1.
	2 (3)	Sharks	27-4-4	Circle Jan. 17 (Red Wings at Sharks) and Feb. 10 (Sharks at Bruins) as two of the NHL's biggest games coming up after the Winter Classic.
	3 (4)	Blackhawks	20-6-7	We're moving them up early because of their club-record run, but the Blackhawks will find themselves in first in the Central Division by the end of the Winter Classic if they can stretch their winning streak to 11 games.
	4 (2)	Red Wings	23-7-5	Detroit's penalty killing has fallen to 24th (79.9 percent) and faces back-to-back games against the No. 4 power-play team, Chicago (23.6 percent), this week.
	5 (7)	Capitals	23-11-3	Enjoy the magic of Alex Ovechkin.
	6 (5)	Devils	20-11-3	Devils picked the right time to break out of a two-game scoring funk, doing it against the Rangers.
	7 (9)	Canadiens	19-9-6	Montreal could sure use offseason free-agent loss Michael Ryder's 14 goals, particularly his four on the power play, right now.
	8 (8)	Penguins	19-13-4	Pittsburgh has been alternating wins and losses for the past nine games, so it is due to beat Boston on Tuesday.
	9 (12)	Flames	20-11-4	Defenseman Dion Phaneuf leads the league in average ice time per game at 27:58.
	10 (6)	Flyers	19-10-7	The Flyers are 0-3-1 and have been outscored 18-7 on the road against Western Conference teams this season. They've got three more on the West Coast this week.
	11 (10)	Canucks	18-12-3	The Canucks need Mats Sundin to speed up his preparation a bit.
	12 (13)	Ducks	19-14-4	Rookie forward Bobby Ryan has a five-game point streak (two goals, six assists and a plus-2) and 12 points in his past 10 games.
	13 (11)	Rangers	22-13-3	We'll let Rangers coach Tom Renney explain his team's drop in the rankings. "Awful. It's brain-dead hockey," he told the New York Post.
	14 (14)	Sabres	17-14-5	Pass it, Thomas. Buffalo's leading scorer, Thomas Vanek, got his second assist in the past 15 games and his seventh of the season Saturday against the Islanders.
	15 (20)	Oilers	17-14-3	Sheldon Souray's three-game goal streak, which coincides with a three-game winning streak, has boosted him to fourth in scoring among NHL defensemen (26 points).
	16 (15)	Hurricanes	17-15-5	Captain Rod Brind'Amour dropped to a league-worst minus-26 after Saturday's loss to the Bruins.
	17 (17)	Predators	17-15-3	The Predators are the second-best faceoff team (54.2 percent), behind the Red Wings (55.6 percent).
	18 (18)	Coyotes	17-15-5	Last week the Coyotes unveiled some "Economic Stimulus Plan" ticket packages for fans, but the money-losing club seems to be more in need of financial assistance.
	19 (16)	Wild	17-15-2	Minnesota needs to protect its asset before springing a trade, so Marian Gaborik is forced to skip a couple of games to rest his groin injury. If the Wild thought they could re-sign him, he'd be playing.
	20 (22)	Avalanche	18-16-1	Avalanche forward Wojtek Wolski has scored in six of seven shootout attempts this season, helping the team to a 7-1 record in the tiebreaker.
	21 (21)	Kings	15-15-6	Kings goalie Jonathan Quick has two shutouts and has allowed just two goals in his past three games.
	22 (23)	Blue Jackets	15-16-4	Columbus embarks on a season-longest, 12-day, six-game road trip that should indicate whether the team is a serious playoff contender.
	23 (26)	Stars	15-14-5	Dallas center Mike Ribeiro has finally broken out with two goals, seven assists and a plus-4 in his past five games.
	24 (19)	Panthers	16-14-5	Losing two in a row to the Lightning is embarrassing.
	25 (24)	Maple Leafs	14-16-6	Brian Burke wants the NHL to add a general manager of the year award. He must think he has a chance to win it because as the new GM of the Maple Leafs, he won't get the trophy the past top GMs won: the Stanley Cup.
	26 (30)	Lightning	10-16-9	Just like old times: Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier are scoring and the Lightning have a three-game winning streak.
	27 (27)	Blues	14-19-3	St. Louis, which lost to the Ducks the night after beating the Sharks in a shootout, has won consecutive games just once since a three-game winning streak Nov. 21-25.
	28 (25)	Senators	12-16-5	At least the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships give Ottawa hockey fans something to cheer about.
	29 (28)	Thrashers	12-20-4	Atlanta's .294 winning percentage in one-goal games (5-8-4) is second worst in the league, just ahead of Tampa Bay's (.250 and 5-6-9).
	30 (29)	Islanders	11-21-4	The Islanders have the worst 5-on-5 goals-for and against ratio in the NHL (0.52), proving they deserve to hold down this bottom spot.