NHL Power Rankings: St. Louis Blues surge to top

Tarik El-Bashir assesses the top teams in the National Hockey League this week (March 9). Records are through Thursday’s games.

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1 (4 last week): St. Louis Blues; 43-18-7

With three straight wins over San Jose, Chicago and Anaheim, they've assumed the top spot in the NHL standings for the first time this late in a season since 2000. During the winning streak, the Blues have scored 13 goals while yielding only three, lowering their league-leading goals against average to 1.87. No other team is below 2.

Sarah Conard / AP

2 (2 last week): Vancouver Canucks; 42-18-8

The defending Presidents' Trophy winners bounced back from back-to-back losses to Buffalo and Dallas with a 3-2 win over Winnipeg on Thursday. Henrik and Daniel Sedin have combined for one points -- and assist -- in the past seven games.

Rich Lam / GETTY IMAGES

3 (1 last week): New York Rangers; 42-17-7

Back-to-back defeats have dropped the Rangers' record in March to a pedestrian 2-2-1. They scored only two goals in losses to New Jersey and Ottawa. But their biggest concern right now should be the surging Penguins, who are now only six points behind them in the Atlantic Division.

Christopher Pasatieri / GETTY IMAGES

4 (3 last week): Detroit Red Wings; 43-21-3

Where's the Wings' Motown mojo gone? The injury-depleted club is 2-4-1 in its last seven games after dropping back-to-back decisions to Chicago and Philadelphia this week. Leading scorer Pavel Datsyuk (minor knee surgery) can't get back soon enough.

Carlos Osorio / AP

5 (6 last week): Pittsburgh Penguins; 40-21-5

The NHL's hottest team has won seven in a row, solidifying its spot in the playoff picture. Top defenseman Kris Letang (head) remains sidelined, but captain Sidney Crosby has been cleared for contract. Crosby's return date, however, remains uncertain.

Gene J. Puskar / AP

6 (5 last week): Nashville Predators; 39-21-7

They're 2-2-0 in their last four games but picked up a 4-2 win over Colorado on Thursday. Goalie Pekka Pinne set the franchise record for wins with his NHL-best 37th, surpassing Tomas Vokoun's previous mark. The Predators have the league's third-best record at home, but after hosting Detroit on Saturday, they'll play eight of 10 away from Bridgestone Arena.

Mark Humphrey / AP

7 (8 last week): Philadelphia Flyers; 38-21-7

After posting a forgettable 5-7-1 record in February, the Flyers have won their first four games this month behind a resurgent Ilya Bryzgalov. The netminder, who has struggled to live up to the nine-year, $51 million deal he signed last summer, is 3-0-0 in his last three games with two shutouts and a .980 save percentage.

Matt Slocum / AP

8 (7 last week): Boston Bruins; 40-23-3

With back-to-back victories over Toronto and Buffalo, the Bruins earned consecutive victories for the first time since mid-January. Since Coach Claude Julien put together a line of Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Tyler Seguin five games ago, the unit has produced 10 goals and 10 assists.

Marianne Helm / GETTY IMAGES

9 (not ranked): New Jersey Devils; 38-24-5

Ilya Kovalchuk and Co. are 3-1-0 in their last four games, yielding a total of three goals while scoring 19. After Thursday's three-goal performance in a 5-1 win over the Islanders, Kovalchuk has two hat tricks and 15 points in his past 12 games.

Christopher Pasatieri / GETTY IMAGES

10 (9 last week): Ottawa Senators; 36-25-8

They've won two in a row, including a 4-1 thumping of the Rangers on Thursday to strengthen their grasp on a playoff spot. Ben Bishop, the 6-foot-7 goalie acquired from St. Louis after starter Craig Anderson suffered a freak hand injury last month, is 2-0-0 with a 2.00 goals against average and .926 save percentage after beating New York.

CHO / AP

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES

epa03708924 Franziska (C) wears a helmet and carries a shield during the recreation of The Battle of the Teutoburg Museum in Bramsche, Germany, 20 May 2013. The everyday life of Romans and the Germanic people is depicted at Museum Park Kalkriese during the Romans and Germanic people days. EPA/Friso Gentsch

Photos of the day

Battle of Teutoburg Forest reenactment, Mars Curiosity rover drilling, massive tornado strikes Moore, Oklahoma and more.

A Burrowing owl tries to perch on a protective rope in a public park in Cooper City, Fla. Monday, May 20, 2013 as rain falls. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Animal views

Fun and fascinating creatures around the world.

ANNAPOLIS, MD - MAY 20: The Herndon Monument Climb is the traditional culmination of plebe year at the United States Naval Academy. The plebes climb to the top of the lard-covered 21 foot high monument and remove the 'dixie cup' hat at the top replacing it with an upperclassman's hat. After completing this, the freshmen are called 'fourth class midshipmen.' This class completed the task in 1 hour 32 minutes and 43 seconds. The hat was placed by Patrick Lien from Orlando. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

The Herndon Climb

The Herndon Monument climb is the traditional culmination of plebe year at the U.S. Naval Academy.

This combination of Associated Press photos shows left, a neighborhood in Moore, Okla., in ruins on Tuesday, May 4, 1999, after a tornado flattened many houses and buildings in central Oklahoma, and right, flattened houses in Moore on Monday, May 20, 2013. Monday's powerful tornado in suburban Oklahoma City loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the region in May 1999. (AP Photo)

Okla. tornado loosely followed path of 1999 twister

Monday’s powerful tornado in suburban Oklahoma City loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the area in May 1999.

Lea Bessinger salvages a picture of Jesus as she and her son Josh Bessinger sort through the rubble of the elder Bessinger's tornado-ravaged home Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Moore, Okla. A huge tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb Monday, flattening an entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against winds. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Tornado near Oklahoma City causes more damage

Rescue workers are searching for survivors after a twister carved a long path of destruction in a suburb of Oklahoma City. It was part of the...

FILE - In this undated publicity file photo, members of the Doors, from left, John Densmore, Robbie Krieger, Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison, pose for a portrait. Manzarek, the keyboardist who was a founding member of The Doors, has died at 74. Publicist Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald says in a news release that Manzarek died Monday, May 20, 2013, at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his family. (AP Photo, File)

Ray Manzarek, founding member of the Doors, dies at 74

Manzarek co-founded the Doors after meeting then-poet Jim Morrison in California. The band went on to become one of the most successful rock-and-roll...

US actress Rosario Dawson smiles on May 20, 2013 as she arrives for the screening of the film 'Wara No Tate' (Shield of Straw) presented in Competition at the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes. Cannes, one of the world's top film festivals, opened on May 15 and will climax on May 26 with awards selected by a jury headed this year by Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg. AFP PHOTO / ALBERTO PIZZOLIALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images

Eye on entertainment

Rosario Dawson, Alec Baldwin, Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Bow Wow, Amy Poehler and more.

A man walks on sulphur and mineral salt formations near Dallol in the Danakil Depression, northern Ethiopia April 22, 2013. The Danakil Depression in Ethiopia is one of the hottest and harshest environments on earth, with an average annual temperature of 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34.4 Celsius). For centuries, merchants have travelled there with caravans of camels to collect salt from the surface of the vast desert basin. The mineral is extracted and shaped into slabs, then loaded onto the animals before being transported back across the desert so that it can be sold around the country. Picture taken April 22, 2013. REUTERS/Siegfried Modola (ETHIOPIA - Tags: BUSINESS SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 2 OF 30 FOR PACKAGE 'ETHIOPIA'S ANCIENT SALT TRAIL'
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Ethiopia’s salt trail

For centuries, merchants have traveled to Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression with caravans of camels to collect salt from the surface of the vast desert basin. The mineral is extracted...

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