With Miller playing great, Sabres surging toward top

Note: All rankings, records and statistics are through Sunday.

NHL Power Rankings Rank LW Team 1 2 Carolina Hurricanes (38-12-4) With its win over Boston on Sunday, Carolina became the first team this season to reach 80 points. The significance? In their first 25 NHL seasons, the Hurricanes have failed to reach the 80-point mark 18 times. Equally impressive is the fact that the 'Canes haven't suffered consecutive losses since a three-game slide Nov. 19-22. With Doug Weight in the mix and Cory Stillman back from injury, this machine is firing on all cylinders. Last Week: 2-1-0 2 3 Detroit Red Wings (36-13-5) What has been the biggest reason for the Red Wings' success this season? Look no further than the power play and penalty kill, where Detroit ranks 1st and 2nd, respectively. Of course, it never hurts to have one of the hottest goalies in the league. Manny Legace is 3-0 in his last four starts while turning away 76 of 79 shots. Last Week: 3-0-0 3 1 Ottawa Senators (35-12-5) The new year has greeted the Senators rudely -- to the sound of an 8-7-1 mark. Don't worry Sens fans, the wheels aren't coming off the wagon. But Ottawa definitely looked like a tired bunch on Saturday while playing its fourth game in six days. Couple that with the fact Dominik Hasek has dropped two of his last three starts, and the Olympic break can't come quick enough. Last Week: 1-2-1 4 7 Dallas Stars (36-15-3) Depite an embarrassing overtime loss to St. Louis, the Stars still managed to move up the list. What has been distressing about their play this season is their inability to stay aggressive for the entire 60 minutes. Dallas saves its best play for late. "When we're down a goal and our backs are against the wall in the third period, we're a heck of a hockey team," Brenden Morrow told the Dallas Morning News. Last Week: 2-0-1 5 5 Nashville Predators (33-15-6) The Senators have their Pizza Line. Maybe it's time for the Predators to dub a Taco Line. The Preds have a promotion where fans get free tacos when the team scores at least five goals in a game. The promo has been triggered seven times, three of them due to the Blackhawks' generosity and lack of any semblance of a defense. Last Week: 2-1-0 6 10 Buffalo Sabres (34-15-3) The Sabres are legit Cup contenders, as long as GM Darcy Regier swings some sort of deal to improve the defense. Buffalo may have turned the corner on Saturday when it knocked off Ottawa for the first time this season. The Senators had owned the series, winning all three previous games by a combined score of 21-5. But the Sabres' Cup hopes may hinge on whether Ryan Miller (18-7-0, 2.18 GAA, .925 save percentage) can stay healthy the rest of the way. Last Week: 3-0-0 7 8 New York Rangers (32-15-8) While Saturday's victory over Philadelphia was huge, it was a costly one. Rookie standout Petr Prucha suffered a serious knee-on-knee hit. But the news from Sunday's MRI was good, as it turned out to be just a grade-two sprain that will keep Prucha on the shelf for roughly 10 games. You can now exhale, Rangers fans. Last Week: 3-0-1 8 4 Philadelphia Flyers (31-15-9) When blueliner Chris Therien sat out Sunday's game, that brought the Flyers to 266 man-games lost this season -- by far the most in the NHL. With a basement full of injuries, it's no wonder Philly has dropped three straight and is just 1-4-1 in its last six. But the squad will get a boost on Wednesday when Peter Forsberg returns from a nagging groin injury. Last Week: 1-2-1 9 9 Vancouver Canucks (31-19-5) Ed Jovanovski had abdominal surgery on Wednesday and could be out for the rest of the season. That means Vancouver is playing three blueliners (Nolan Baumgartner, Steve McCarthy and Kevin Bieksa) who have never played a full NHL season. Needless to say, the Canucks are living brave, hoping Mattias Ohlund and Sami Salo stay healthy. If this team wants to stay in the hunt, they'd better get some defensive help before the deadline. Last Week: 2-1-0 10 6 Calgary Flames (30-17-7) After a pair of dismal shootout losses to St. Louis and Columbus, the Flames promptly went out and lost 3-1 to Vancouver on Friday. "This doesn't change anything," said Flames coach Darryl Sutter. "Remember I said from the outset, the team we need to stay with and now we really need to stay with is Vancouver." Isn't it about time for Jarome Iginla to kick it into overdrive? Last Week: 0-1-2

Read on for teams 11-20 ...