Power Rankings: Bruins hold on for another week

Week: 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25

ESPN.com

Some might have doubted our reasoning for moving Boston back to the top of our Power Rankings last week, but the Bruins certainly backed it up with a 3-0-0 week to stretch their winning streak to six and clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Thanks, B's, for making us look good.

Boston trails San Jose by three points in the overall standings, but beatdowns such as Zdeno Chara on Evgeny Artyukhin and Milan Lucic on Josef Melichar against the Lightning on Tuesday provide the extra punch that makes a difference in our ratings. Even goalie Tim Thomas wanted to get in on the action Saturday against the Rangers.

Go ahead and quibble over spots No. 2 through No. 30 and express yourself here.

-- By Jim Wilkie; posted April 6

2008-2009 Power Rankings: Week 24
	RK (PV)	TEAM	REC.	COMMENT
	1 (1)	Bruins	51-17-10	Bruins goalie Tim Thomas is already earning his four-year, $20 million contract extension by shutting out the Rangers on Saturday.
	2 (2)	Sharks	51-16-11	The Sharks are feeling California about a possible first-round matchup with the Ducks. "If the playoffs come, I think it'd be a heck of a series. ... They've got work to do, we've got work to do, and really I don't think anybody's going to have any idea who they're playing until Saturday or Sunday," Sharks coach Todd McLellan told the San Jose Mercury News.
	3 (3)	Capitals	48-23-8	Capitals defenseman Mike Green's 30 goals are the most by a defenseman who has played fewer than 70 games (the most Green will play is 68).
	4 (4)	Red Wings	50-19-9	Detroit is the third team in history to notch four consecutive 50-win seasons.
	5 (5)	Devils	49-26-4	Too bad about Kevin Weekes' knee injury, but it's only fair that Scott Clemmensen gets to return from the minors.
	6 (9)	Hurricanes	44-28-7	Carolina goalie Cam Ward is playing better than when the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup.
	7 (6)	Canucks	42-27-10	Losses to the Oilers and the Avalanche, a shootout loss to the Ducks and a fortunate overtime victory over the Wild were out of character compared to the Canucks' recent play. They better shake out of it in Tuesday's division showdown with the Flames.
	8 (11)	Blackhawks	43-24-11	So far April has been good to the Blackhawks (3-0), but can they carry it into May?
	9 (7)	Flyers	42-25-11	Besides jockeying for position in the Eastern Conference standings, the Flyers can deal a death blow to the Rangers' playoff hopes by sweeping their two games this week.
	10 (8)	Penguins	42-28-9	Pittsburgh shouldn't be worried about captain Sidney Crosby's fighting, but it should be concerned that his bout with Florida's Keith Ballard didn't spark the Penguins in their 4-2 loss Sunday.
	11 (10)	Flames	44-28-6	If Calgary fails to sew up the Northwest Division title, it will have to face Chicago and goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, who has a 21-5-2 all-time regular-season record against the Flames.
	12 (12)	Blue Jackets	40-29-10	Kristian Huselius' apparent head injury comes at a terrible time for the Blue Jackets.
	13 (14)	Canadiens	41-27-10	Montreal has scored power-play goals in six consecutive games and gone an amazing 13-for-35 (37.1 percent) in that span.
	14 (17)	Ducks	41-33-6	Will Sunday's 3-2 loss to the Sharks provide any reason to give Jean-Sebastien Giguere another chance to start over the more reliable Jonas Hiller?
	15 (13)	Predators	39-32-8	Nashville has allowed just six power-play goals in its past 28 home games.
	16 (15)	Rangers	40-30-9	We probably haven't seen the last Sean Avery-Tim Thomas altercation, following their skirmish on Saturday in a likely preview of a first-round matchup.
	17 (19)	Panthers	39-29-11	The Panthers will get as far as goalie Tomas Vokoun can take them now.
	18 (16)	Blues	38-31-10	St. Louis has Phoenix and Colorado among its final three games (the other is Columbus), so the Blues can't make any excuses if things fall apart this week.
	19 (18)	Sabres	38-31-9	Buffalo's mad dash (four games to make up more than four points in the standings) begins Monday against Detroit.
	20 (20)	Wild	37-33-9	Minnesota can't possibly recover from the heartbreaking last-minute loss to the Red Wings on Sunday.
	21 (21)	Oilers	37-33-9	The playoffs are doubtful this season, but at least the Oilers can look forward to getting wonderfully talented Linus Omark. That is, if they can outbid a reportedly rich offer from a Russian club.
	22 (22)	Senators	34-34-10	Ottawa's 11-year streak of playoff appearances is over. Get ready for the offseason overhaul.
	23 (24)	Thrashers	34-39-6	If the Thrashers aren't careful, they might play themselves out of the group of the five worst teams that make up the draft lottery.
	24 (23)	Maple Leafs	32-34-13	Toronto signs Christian Hanson, whose dad was one of the Hanson brothers. With the Leafs' luck he'll be as good as those "Slap Shot" sequels.
	25 (27)	Coyotes	34-38-7	Coyotes center Matthew Lombardi has 13 points and a plus-3 in 16 games since being acquired from the Flames.
	26 (25)	Kings	32-35-11	More to come? Justin Williams notched his first points (goal, two assists) for the Kings since being acquired at the trade deadline.
	27 (26)	Stars	35-34-10	Now we can hope Stars owner Tom Hicks' financial troubles mean an end to the Stars' past reckless free spending.
	28 (28)	Islanders	26-43-9	Despite the Islanders' horrible season, defenseman Mark Streit deserves praise for his team-leading 55 points and plus-9 rating (one of just two Isles with a plus rating who has played more than 25 games).
	29 (30)	Avalanche	32-44-2	It's a shame that captain Joe Sakic might end his career this way, possibly in the final two games of the season for the lowly Avalanche.
	30 (29)	Lightning	24-37-18	Just when you thought the season couldn't get any worse, captain Vincent Lecavalier's season ended because of wrist surgery. Back to the familiar setting of the basement, where the Lightning have spent most of the season.