SB Nation's NHL Power Rankings, Week 8: Chicago Blackhawks Take Top Spot

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SB Nation's NHL Power Rankings, Week 8:

Our first decent shake up of the season in the NHL rankings, as the Chicago Blackhawks are riding a seven-game winning streak all the way to the No. 1 spot in our Top Ten rankings. The New Jersey Devils, who were threatening the San Jose Sharks for the top spot last week, had a down week and have fallen back to No. 6.

Surprise of the week: The Detroit Red Wings pop back into the Top Ten rankings, despite only winning one of their past four games.

PLEASE READ: Western Conference rankings are determined by votes from Western Conference bloggers, Eastern Conference bloggers for Eastern rankings. The Top 10 Power Rankings are determined by a separate vote of Western and Eastern Conference bloggers.

NHL Top Ten Power Rankings
	Rank	Last Wk	Team	Record	Comments
	1	4	Chicago Blackhawks	15-5-2	Seven straight wins have propelled Chicago to the top led by the two Patricks, Kane and Sharp.
	2	1	San Jose Sharks	16-5-4	Still unbeaten in regulation at home, and have a NHL-best +23 goal differential.
	3	3	Washington Capitals	13-5-6	Capitals fans are reeling after four losses in five games, although they did get points in two of those. Hey, it's the important things.
	4	8	Pittsburgh Penguins	16-8-0	Fours wins in five games is a good sign for an injured team. As guys keep returning - Letang, Goligoski, Kunitz, Kennedy, McKee - it can only get better
	5	5	Calgary Flames	13-6-3	A great road record (7-1-3) has helped Calgary overcome shaky play on home ice (6-5-0).
	6	2	New Jersey Devils	14-6-1	After an eight-game winning streak, the Devils have slowed a bit with three road losses.
	7	7	Philadelphia Flyers	12-8-1	Voters still feeling good about Philly, despite a three-game losing streak.
	8	6	Buffalo Sabres	12-6-2	One of the strongest defensive teams in the NHL has struggled lately, allowing 13 goals in the past three games (all losses).
	9	9	Colorado Avalanche	14-7-3	The incredible goaltending to start the season has caught up with the Avs a bit, who are 4-5-1 in the past ten games and are now 18th in the NHL in goals allowed.
	10	-	Detroit Red Wings	11-7-4	1-2-1 in the past week and are suddenly having some struggles scoring.

Eastern Conference

Biggest Winner: Ottawa Senators (+5)

Biggest Loser: New York Islanders (-4)

Eastern Conference Power Rankings
	Rk (Prv)	Team	Record	SB Nation Blog
	1 (2)	Washington Capitals	13-5-6	Japers' Rink
	2 (5)	Pittsburgh Penguins	16-8-0	PensBurgh
	3 (4)	Philadelphia Flyers	12-8-1	Broad Street Hockey
	4 (1)	New Jersey Devils	14-6-1	In Lou We Trust
	5 (3)	Buffalo Sabres	12-6-2	Die By The Blade
	6 (11)	Ottawa Senators	12-6-3	Silver Seven
	7 (9)	Boston Bruins	11-8-4	Stanley Cup of Chowder
	8 (10)	Tampa Bay Lightning	9-5-7	Raw Charge
	9 (6)	Atlanta Thrashers	10-7-3	Bird Watchers Anonymous
	10 (7)	New York Rangers	12-10-1	Blueshirt Banter
	11 (13)	Florida Panthers	10-9-3	Litter Box Cats
	12 (8)	New York Islanders	9-8-7	Lighthouse Hockey
	13 (12)	Montreal Canadiens	11-11-1	Habs Eyes On The Prize
	14 (15)	Carolina Hurricanes	5-13-5	Canes Country
	15 (14)	Toronto Maple Leafs	4-11-7	Pension Plan Puppets

Western Conference

Biggest Winner: Columbus Blue Jackets (+4)

Biggest Loser: Phoenix Coyotes (-3)

Western Conference Power Rankings
	Rk (Prv)	Team	Record	SB Nation Blog
	1 (2)	Chicago Blackhawks	15-5-2	Second City Hockey
	2 (1)	San Jose Sharks	16-5-4	Fear The Fin
	3 (3)	Calgary Flames	13-6-3	Matchsticks and Gasoline
	4 (4)	Detroit Red Wings	11-7-4	Winging It In Motown
	5 (9)	Columbus Blue Jackets	12-7-3	The Cannon
	6 (8)	Dallas Stars	11-6-6	Defending Big D
	7 (6)	Colorado Avalanche	14-7-3	Mile High Hockey
	8 (5)	Los Angeles Kings	13-9-2	Battle of California
	9 (11)	Nashville Predators	13-8-1	On the Forecheck
	10 (7)	Phoenix Coyotes	13-10-1	Five For Howling
	11 (10)	Vancouver Canucks	12-11-0	Nucks Misconduct
	12 (12)	St. Louis Blues	8-9-4	St. Louis Game Time
	13 (13)	Edmonton Oilers	10-11-3	The Copper & Blue
	14 (14)	Minnesota Wild	8-12-2	Hockey Wilderness
	15 (15)	Anaheim Ducks	8-11-3	Battle of California