Power Rankings: Southeast clubs battle for playoff spot

Updated Feb. 4

In the wake of the New York Giants' stunning Super Bowl victory, it's worth remembering that surprising things can happen to teams that manage to squeeze into the playoffs.

With Alexander Ovechkin the Caps have a shot in the division. (Getty Images)

That's the approach being taken these days in the NHL's Southeast Division, and it has to be. Four of the five teams are fighting for first place in a fierce battle unlike any other in the league because the Southeast seems destined to send only one team to the playoffs.

That would be the division winner, which automatically claims the third seed. And it would be a gift of sorts because the teams sharing the lead now -– the Carolina Hurricanes and Atlanta Thrashers -– are barely in eight place overall in the East.

"It's just a very competitive division," said Tampa Bay Lightning forward Martin St. Louis. "You look every night, the teams are beating each other."

Well, the Lightning, not so much. They're dead last in the Eastern Conference and nine points off the division lead. They have been miserable on the road and just a little better at home. Then again, no one has looked dominant within the Southeast -– the teams are all at or just above .500 in division games -– and all five have allowed at least a dozen more goals than they have scored.

But there are also some of the league's brightest young stars in the East, with Alex Ovechkin in Washington, Eric Staal in Carolina, Ilya Kovalchuk in Atlanta and Vincent Lecavalier in Tampa Bay. Florida's best player is a little older, but Olli Jokinen is among the league's top centers.

One of their teams is going to finish first, get home-ice advantage to start the playoffs and give them a chance to shine.

"You never know what's going to happen if you get to the playoffs," said Staal. "Right now we have a really tough road to go through, but if you get there you could be in pretty shape."

Here are this week's rankings:

Power Rankings
Current		Team	Previous
	1	Sharks · Trends	1
	San Jose picked up 38 of the last 44 available points down the stretch, so they are getting to the playoffs in high gear. Now they have to prove they have some bite when it really matters.
	2	Red Wings · Trends	2
	Dominik Hasek looks sharp and rested heading into the playoffs, which is good news for the Red Wings. So is the easiest first-round travel schedule the veteran team has had in several seasons.
	3	Canadiens · Trends	4
	The Canadiens are explosive, have the league's best power play and a rookie goalie playing with the poise of a veteran heading to the playoffs. It won't hurt Montreal to face a team it has beaten 11 straight times either.
	4	Penguins · Trends	3
	They could regret not pushing harder to finish first in the East, but the Penguins have their eyes on a bigger prize. Some question marks remain about Sidney Crosby's ankle heading into the playoffs.
	5	Ducks · Trends	5
	Defense and goaltending are supposed to win championships, and the Ducks have that in spades. But no team in the playoffs has scored fewer goals this season.
	6	Capitals · Trends	14
	Is there even more hardware in store for Alex Ovechkin, who has already claimed the Art Ross, Maurice Richard and almost certainly the Hart Trophy this season?
	7	Wild · Trends	6
	They've got Marian Gaborik firing on all cylinders, a stifling system of defense and home-ice advantage that is critical because the Wild finished very strong at home and much less so on the road.
	8	Rangers · Trends	10
	Goalie Henrik Lundqvist has put up great numbers against the Devils and Jaromir Jagr is in a groove heading into the playoffs with goals in his last four games and in seven of his last eight.
	9	Devils · Trends	8
	The Devils got a big monkey off their backs by beating the Rangers in the finale, but they also haven't given goalie Martin Brodeur a game off in three months. Last season, the workload caught up with him in the playoffs.
	10	Flyers · Trends	13
	They'll be underdogs against Washington just because the Caps are this season's media darlings, but the physical Flyers have seven 20-goal scorers and can't be taken for granted.
	11	Avalanche · Trends	16
	Lots of offensive firepower and leadership from veterans who know what it takes to win it all. The issue is whether they can stay healthy for a long run and get the kind of goaltending they'll need.
	12	Flames · Trends	12
	Forget about the Flames 3-1 record against the Sharks because all the games were played before San Jose took off at the trade deadline. More telling is that San Jose outshot the Flames every time, even twice in losses, by significant margins.
	13	Bruins · Trends	15
	Whether or not the hurting Bruins survive the first round, getting back in the playoffs for the first time since before the lockout is progress. Give GM Peter Chiarelli props for fixing the mess he inherited two years ago.
	14	Predators · Trends	19
	Nashville's power play is a concern heading into the playoffs and so is the goaltending, even if Dan Ellis looked very good at times down the stretch. But the Predators had to fight their way in and they tend to play division-rival Detroit tough.
	15	Stars · Trends	9
	No offense from Richards, Ribeiro and Hagman heading into the playoffs and no Zubov in the lineup. Not a good way for Dallas to take on the Ducks.
	16	Senators · Trends	11
	Lots of questions around Ottawa to finish the season, but the big one is whether Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza can step up enough to overcome the absences of Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Fisher and Chris Kelly.
	17	Hurricanes · Trends	7
	Carolina spent all but 15 days leading the Southeast Division this season. Too bad the last one was among them.
	18	Sabres · Trends	20
	Lots of reasons why the Sabres went from the Presidents' Trophy penthouse to the outhouse in just one season, but one that stands out was their problem winning in their own building, particularly during the last month.
	19	Oilers · Trends	18
	A great finish wasn't enough, although it offered lots of hope for the future because it was triggered by several youngsters. But Edmonton should contain some of its excitement because so much of the late run was fueled by incredible results in shootouts and overtime.
	20	Canucks · Trends	17
	Look for a major offseason personnel shakeup. Offensive woes were exposed even more than usual because goalie Roberto Luongo wasn't at his best often enough.
	21	Blackhawks · Trends	21
	Hockey is back in Chicago where the young and much improved Blackhawks have a bright future centering around gems Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.
	22	Blue Jackets · Trends	23
	Rick Nash matured a great deal this season and goalie Pascal Leclaire proved he's the real deal, which gives the Blue Jackets the building blocks they need to close the gap on playoff teams. They're not that far away.
	23	Coyotes · Trends	25
	The Coyotes developed a good young core this season, although it suffered some growing pains along the way. But with goalie Ilya Bryzgalov locked up for several years, the playoff dry spell in the desert won't last much longer.
	24	Panthers · Trends	22
	The Panthers can take some satisfaction from ruining the season of bitter rival Carolina, but that won't help the organization get through what is shaping up as a long and volatile summer.
	25	Maple Leafs · Trends	24
	Interim GM Cliff Fletcher is looking for the detonator switch, although blowing things up isn't likely to end the 40-year Stanley Cup drought any time soon.
	26	Islanders · Trends	26
	How bad was this team's offense this season? You wouldn't ask if you looked at the stats and saw that the Islanders were the only team without anyone getting at least 50 points.
	27	Blues · Trends	28
	A season to forget unless you are Keith Tkachuk. The veteran scored three times in his last two games, including on his last shot of the season, to become only the fourth U.S.-born player to reach 500 goals.
	28	Kings · Trends	29
	Another season is over and another rebuilding effort has begun. One of these years someone from Hollywood will have to come up with a new script.
	29	Thrashers · Trends	30
	If things weren't bad enough for the Thrashers, the season ended with superstar Ilya Kovalchuk hinting loudly that he's getting tired of being in Atlanta.
	30	Lightning · Trends	27
	The bright side in an otherwise dismal season is the Lightning will pick no lower than second in what is considered a very deep draft.