Power Rankings: Brodeur, Devils hold on for another week

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ESPN.com

This wasn't the best week for the league's top teams.

Boston, New Jersey and Washington in the East and San Jose, Detroit and Calgary in the West posted either losing or even weeks. So, our "tiebreaker" among those teams for this week is, best goaltender wins.

And that has been Martin Brodeur. Yes, there was the 7-3 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday, but we believe that was an aberration until we're proven wrong. Obviously, the big Flames-Devils matchup Tuesday night will tell us a lot.

As usual, voice your opinion here, puckheads.

-- By Joy Russo; posted March 9

2008-2009 Power Rankings: Week 20
	RK (PV)	TEAM	REC.	COMMENT
	1 (1)	Devils	42-20-3	We're guessing the Devils' 7-3 loss to the Islanders this past week was an aberration. Martin Brodeur can still tie Patrick Roy's all-time wins record in Montreal on Saturday.
	2 (3)	Red Wings	43-15-8	Unlike the other top teams below them (Washington, Boston and San Jose), the Red Wings have at least two wins over the past week.
	3 (2)	Capitals	40-21-6	If the hockey gods have their way and the Capitals face the Penguins in the playoffs, something tells us Alex Ovechkin will want to make up for his shootout miss Sunday in D.C.
	4 (4)	Bruins	43-15-9	Manny Fernandez hasn't posted a win since Jan. 8. Not the type of backup plan you want heading into the home stretch.
	5 (5)	Sharks	42-12-10	The best news for the Sharks this week: Goalie Evgeni Nabokov (the proverbial and mysterious "lower-body injury") is expected to be back in the lineup by Tuesday.
	6 (9)	Canucks	34-22-8	OK, we have to mention this as one of the reasons we love Vancouver. On Monday night, the Vancouver International Film Centre will open its 12 Nights of Hockey film fest with "Slap Shot." Our only gripe? Including "Sudden Death" in the mix. Sorry, but the dude fights a mascot in the movie.
	7 (6)	Flames	39-21-6	The Flames are still playing without three of their top seven forwards, as Todd Bertuzzi, Rene Bourque and Daymond Langkow are on injured reserve. And New Jersey awaits as Calgary wraps up a seven-game road swing this week.
	8 (7)	Blackhawks	36-19-9	The Blackhawks' injury list keeps growing. After being without Nikolai Khabibulin (groin) and Patrick Sharp (knee), Chicago lost Martin Havlat to a "lower-body injury" after he posted 15 points in his past 10 games.
	9 (8)	Flyers	35-19-10	Would Flyers fans want to nullify that Eric Lindros trade from 1992?
	10 (16)	Penguins	35-26-6	The Penguins are 8-1-1 since Dan Bylsma took over as interim coach. Marc-Andre Fleury has been in net for all those games, and the team now is back in the playoff picture.
	11 (10)	Canadiens	35-24-7	Guy Carbonneau's latest line juggling -- moving Andrei Kostitsyn from playing with Tomas Plekanec and Alex Kovalev to playing with Saku Koivu and Alex Tanguay -- has paid off for now.
	12 (11)	Panthers	34-24-8	The Panthers' playoff hopes might have taken a hit this past week when they lost two key players to injury. Center Nathan Horton will miss 2-4 weeks (finger), while Bryan McCabe might miss time with an eye injury.
	13 (12)	Blue Jackets	33-27-6	Will the Blue Jackets be able to carry momentum from their 8-2 win over the Red Wings into contests versus Boston, Pittsburgh and Chicago this week?
	14 (14)	Hurricanes	35-27-5	Eric Staal's big night aside, the Hurricanes have outscored opponents 20-6 over the past three games (all wins for Carolina).
	15 (13)	Sabres	33-25-7	Overheard during Terrell Owens' news conference this week: "The Sabres? That's my hockey team, man. That's my hockey team."
	16 (17)	Rangers	34-24-8	Three straight wins and counting on The Tortorella Train.
	17 (18)	Oilers	32-27-6	Guess no one has bothered to tell Dwayne Roloson he's 39 years old. He's made 21 straight starts for the Oilers heading into Tuesday's game against the Canadiens.
	18 (21)	Predators	33-29-4	Nashville heads into a pivotal week, starting out eighth in the West entering Monday's action.
	19 (19)	Wild	32-28-5	Where the Wild will finish in this crazy West race is not predictable at this point, given their inconsistent play. But one thing that might work against Minny -- eight of its remaining 12 games in March are on the road.
	20 (15)	Ducks	31-30-6	Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer are still in town, Travis Moen and Kent Huskins are not, and the Ducks seem to be slowly falling further out of playoff contention.
	21 (20)	Stars	31-27-8	There's no place like the road for the Dallas Stars? They matched a franchise record with their sixth consecutive home loss in Sunday's 3-1 decision versus the Canadiens. Last time that happened? 1970.
	22 (24)	Maple Leafs	26-27-13	Martin Gerber won't get the chance to silence the boo-birds in Ottawa this week, as CuJo gets the start in net Monday.
	23 (22)	Blues	29-28-8	The road to the playoffs isn't easy for the Blues, who face teams already in the West mix in six of their next seven games.
	24 (23)	Kings	28-28-9	L.A. is five points out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the West and has to pass five teams to get there.
	25 (27)	Senators	25-29-10	For the first time in a long while, the Ottawa Senators will play "the spoiler" heading into the regular season's last month.
	26 (25)	Coyotes	28-33-5	Buh-bye, Olli Jokinen.
	27 (28)	Thrashers	25-35-6	The Thrashers are 7-4-1 in their past 12 games and have defeated Calgary, Montreal and Carolina in that span.
	28 (26)	Lightning	21-32-13	Poor Vinny Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis. That 9-3 home loss to Carolina this past weekend had to be a low point.
	29 (30)	Islanders	22-37-7	Back-to-back wins help the Islanders climb out of Chateau Bow Wow ...
	30 (29)	Avalanche	29-36-1	... but snapping a six-game losing skid doesn't prevent the Avs from falling into the last spot.