Updated: April 13, 2006, 9:24 PM ET

Power Rankings: Wings, Wings and more Wings

Week:

We're down to the home stretch.

And while some of the league's best have hit the wall (Ottawa and Carolina), the Detroit Red Wings are bull-dozing their way into the playoffs.

Facts: The Wings have locked up the Presidents' Trophy. They are 8-0-2 in their last 10 games. Steve Yzerman had a recent 11-game points streak.

Bottom line: That's good enough for our top spot.

Read on, hockey faithful! We'll see you next week with our latest rankings -- playoff style.

2005-2006 Power Rankings: Week 27
RANK	TEAM / RECORD	TRENDING	COMMENTS
1	Detroit 55-15-8	-- Last Week: 1	The Red Wings wrapped up the Presidents' Trophy on Tuesday night and are 8-0-2 in their last 10 games. Stevie Y has found his game and the playoffs are a week away. Time to order some octopus!
2	Dallas 52-22-5	1 Last Week: 3	The Stars are taking a deep breath with a much-needed three-day break after four games (different cities; and we won't make any travel plan jokes here!) in six days. They went 3-1 during the stretch. Will they carry that success over into the playoffs?
3	Ottawa 51-20-8	1 Last Week: 2	It was 79 years ago Thursday that the Senators won their last Stanley Cup. And while Ottawa has dominated most of the season, they, too, have hit a late lull. They've lost their last five games and three of their last 10. The Sens have Chara and Redden back, but Hasek is still up in the air and Emery is playing with a sore hip. Are we looking at year No. 80?
4	Carolina 51-21-7	-- Last Week: 4	The Hurricanes won three straight against the Capitals (big whoop!), before dropping games vs. Atlanta and New Jersey. Peter Laviolette gave his best Jim Schoenfeld impersonation vs. the Devils (a rally call?), but the bottom line is this: The Canes are in a funk and they need to snap out of it before this time next week.
5	Buffalo 49-24-6	-- Last Week: 5	The Sabres rebounded from a season-worst five-game slump, stringing together some gritty wins against Ottawa and Montreal over the past week. And wouldn't ya know it? Their goalie is hot, as well. Ryan Miller has allowed just three goals in his past two games.
6	Anaheim 42-25-12	-- Last Week: 6	Sure, Teemu Selanne is on every opponents' game plan when they face the Mighty Ducks. Here's free advice for those teams: Add Andy McDonald to that list. Just another player who has benefited from the New NHL. The 5-foot-11 center has 31 goals and 49 assists ... and the Ducks just keep on winning.
7	New Jersey 43-27-9	6 Last Week: 13	This week's edition of a scary thought: the Devils have won eight straight games, Martin Brodeur reached the 40-win mark for the fifth time in his career and the Devils are playing like, well, the Devils. How many Rangers fans are shaking in their boots at a possible first-round matchup against Sweet Lou (hockey version) and Co.?
8	Calgary 45-24-10	1 Last Week: 9	The Flames are 6-0-2 in their last eight games and are closing in on their first division title since 1995. Our favorite line of the week? Comes from the Calgary Herald, which summed up the Flames' positioning right now as an "unfamiliar luxury of a mulligan or two."
9	New York 44-23-12	2 Last Week: 7	Oh, we know some of you Rangers fans are going to be up in arms over the drop in standings, but facts are facts. Yes, they're in the playoffs, but Henrik Lundqvist is still hurting and the team has just four power-play goals in the past seven games (38 chances).
10	Montreal 41-29-9	-- Last Week: 10	Despite going 9-2 in their last 11 games, the Canadiens are still in seventh place, just two points ahead of the Bolts. Those two losses have come in the last week, and one wonders how long Cristobal "Hip Hip" Huet can keep up his heroics when his team can't give him an early lead to build on.
11	Philadelphia 43-24-11	-- Last Week: 11	The last week pretty much sums up the Flyers' season: win, shootout loss, win, loss, another win. Inconsistency galore. Interestingly enough, outside of the SO loss, Robert Esche has been in net for every win and Antero Niittymaki for every loss since March 28. Yes, that's right, we're digging up some goalie controversy!
12	San Jose 42-26-11	2 Last Week: 14	Well, the Sharks' latest streak put them in the playoffs. Thanks to Joe Thornton's four-assist game, San Jose clinched and Vancouver flinched. Another reminder on where San Jose was: The Sharks were 8-12-4 when they acquired Thornton on Nov. 30.
13	Nashville 46-25-8	5 Last Week: 8	What a tough week for the Nashville Predators after they lost Tomas Vokoun for the rest of the season because of a rare blood condition. But Chris Mason is trying to string a few wins together (he has three, so far) to give his team a boost.
14	Colorado 43-28-8	2 Last Week: 12	Jose Theodore was back in net this week and pulled out a 6-4 win over the Coyotes. Now, Dr. Q is saying the netminder could be in net for the Avs' final three games vs. Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton. Does this mean we can TiVo that Game 1 vs. Detroit in the playoff opener?
15	Tampa Bay 42-32-5	3 Last Week: 18	The Bolts have allowed 12 goals in the last two games and, shockingly, they lost both matchups. Coach John Tortorella challenged his best players to "be better." He said he wasn't saying it in a negative way, that "they know the real world." Is this a true story, where we stop being polite and get real?
16	Edmonton 39-28-13	1 Last Week: 15	For a team that is pretty exciting to watch, the Oilers have dropped some sure-fire-wins in the past week. Losses to St. Louis and Minnesota, along with needing OT to get past the Hawks, have put Edmonton in the position it's in: holding on to No. 8 for dear life.
17	Winnipeg 39-32-7	-- Last Week: 17	Desperate times call for desperate measures? Well, the Thrashers are trying anything to get into the playoffs, including a new line of Bobby Holik, Scott Mellanby and Jim Slater. Over the last two games, the line has three goals and three assists.
18	Los Angeles 40-34-5	2 Last Week: 16	Luc Robitaille is calling it quits after this season, Sean Avery mouthed his way out of the lineup and the Kings are likely out of the postseason. Will this be the end of an era? Will Dave Taylor be booted out of L.A.?
19	Toronto 38-32-8	4 Last Week: 23	Well, we have to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a few points for making it interesting and for going 3-1 over the last week. Granted, Philly was the only "big" team they faced, but the Leafs are still, technically, not out of it. Glad to see all of those old free agents made it through the whole season.
20	Minnesota 38-35-7	-- Last Week: 20	The Wild are playing the spoiler for some teams and are trying to go out on a positive note. The Wild have won six of its last nine games and Marian Gaborik is three goals from 40 for the season.
21	Vancouver 41-31-8	2 Last Week: 19	Watching the first of two back-to-back games against the Sharks and seeing Joe Thornton just skate past player after player (including Bertuzzi) was just a small indication of how the Canucks got to be in their playoff predicament.
22	Florida 35-34-10	1 Last Week: 21	After their best stretch of the season, the Panthers are 1-3-1 in their last five games. Iron Mike, just sign Roberto Luongo already. Give him the money. Hasn't the goalie already given you enough of hints over the past month?
23	Phoenix 36-38-5	1 Last Week: 22	Wayne Gretzky is still noncommittal about returning as coach next season, but he's obviously frustrated. He walked past reporters with his head down after a recent loss to the Avs.
24	New York 35-38-5	1 Last Week: 23	The Islanders have been out of the race for a while now, but that hasn't taken the wind out of Rick DiPietro's sails. The netminder declared that he wanted to "kick the Rangers (booty)" this week. He did that and the Isles keep fighting.
25	Columbus 32-42-4	-- Last Week: 25	After a six-game winning streak, the Blue Jackets were brought back to earth with three straight losses to Detroit (twice) and Dallas. But they were close -- all three losses were by just one goal.
26	Boston 29-35-16	-- Last Week: 26	Well, the Bruins are still losing, but it's not for a lack of trying. They've lost three straight games, all in overtime, to the Rangers, Capitals and Senators. Our vote for new GM: Denis Leary.
27	Washington 26-40-12	-- Last Week: 27	Oh, heck. It's all about Alexander Ovechkin. That's it. Period.
28	Pittsburgh 20-45-13	-- Last Week: 28	Sidney Crosby, The Other One (the other rookie, for those of you who haven't had the morning cup of coffee), is also chasing a little history. Even if he doesn't reach 100 points, it's been a solid debut season.
29	St. Louis 21-43-14	-- Last Week: 29	Al MacInnis was still helping the Blues win, even though he isn't even on the team anymore. Need proof? The Blues' only win in the last 15 games came on the night the team raised No. 2 to the rafters.
30	Chicago 24-41-13	-- Last Week: 30	The Blackhawks are going to duke it out with the Blues for that weighted lottery spot in next week's NHL draft drawing! Not even a speech from Knute could save this team.
Biggest Jump: 6 Biggest Drop: 5

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