Hurricanes ascend into top 5; Thrashers slip to cellar

BIGGEST CLIMB: Carolina (11 to 4)
BIGGEST FALL: Anaheim (5 to 14)

Note: All statistics are through Sunday.

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NHL Power Rankings Rank LW Team 1 1 Ottawa Senators (6-1-0) Gone in 60 seconds. Make that 52. That's how long it took for the Sens to light the lamp three times in Saturday night's 3-1 win over the Rangers. Equally impressive has been the play of more-than-capable fill-in Martin Gerber, who has allowed more than three goals just once and owns a 1.99 GAA. No need to rush back, Ray Emery. Last Week: 3-1-0 2 8 Minnesota Wild (5-0-0) And then there was one -- as in undefeated teams. You know Sunday's win over the Ducks (with J-S Giguere making his season debut) had to be sweet, considering it was Anaheim that ousted Minny from the playoffs last season. The Wild started last season by winning six straight. So far they've won five. Is there something in Minnesota's water? Last Week: 3-0-0 3 3 Detroit Red Wings (4-1-1) To say the Wings own the Kings would be a fairly big understatement. Sunday's victory was Detroit's 14th in their last 15 games against LA, including 7-1 at Staples Center. A huge reason the Wings are off to a solid start is the No. 1 line -- Pavel Datsyuk-Tomas Holmstrom-Henrik Zetterberg -- which has combined for 10 goals and 26 points. Last Week: 3-1-0 4 11 Carolina Hurricanes (4-1-1) Last week was a successful excursion through Canada for the 'Canes, who beat the Leafs, Sens and Habs by a combined score of 15-5. Another positive sign: the power play went 7-for-28 on the trip and has notched at least one goal in five of six games. Last Week: 3-0-0 5 2 Pittsburgh Penguins (2-2-0) All is right in Pittsburgh -- at least in one respect: Mr. Penguin, Sidney Crosby, broke out of his slump by scoring his first two goals of the season, including the winner, in Saturday's win over the Leafs. "I remember last year I went eight to 10 games without a goal, so I was hoping it wasn't going to be that long," he said. Last Week: 1-1-0 6 6 Tampa Bay Lightning (3-1-0) From the nothing-new department: On Saturday, the Bolts suffered their third straight loss at Florida's BankAtlantic Center where they are 2-8-2 since 2003-04. "We don't play as well as we should, that's for sure," said Vinny Lecavalier. Maybe the Bolts can get the schedule-makers to scratch off the rest of their @ FLA dates. Last Week: 1-1-0 7 4 San Jose Sharks (2-2-1) The 20-minute pregame power outage in the home opener was a sign of things to come. For much of the first period, the Sharks lacked energy and hustle before falling 2-1 to the Bruins. "You get all fired up for the home opener and the way everything went, we came out flat in the first period," coach Ron Wilson told the Mercury News. Indeed. Last Week: 1-1-0 8 13 Philadelphia Flyers (3-1-0) The first two games of the season saw the No. 1 line (Simon Gagne-Daniel Briere-Mike Knuble) score five of the team's six goals. Players not on the top unit have scored eight of the Flyers' last 11 goals over the past two games -- both easy wins. Last Week: 2-0-0 9 16 St. Louis Blues (3-1-0) Manny Legace can claim ownership of the Avs. The veteran netminder turned in a 24-save performance in a 4-1 victory to boost his career record against Colorado to 12-1 with a 1.85 GAA. St. Louis is now off to their best start since going 7-1 in 1997-98. The fans are optimistic, selling out the Scottrade Center twice. Last Week: 2-0-0 10 12 Vancouver Canucks (3-2-0) Markus Naslund after an 8-2 loss to the Flyers on Wednesday: "This is as bad as I've seen this team play. We have to wake up. It's embarrassing to lose to a team we should beat if we play to our level." Looks like he lit a fire under his teammates. Vancouver won the next two games by combined score of 9-3. Last Week: 2-1-0

Read on for teams 11-20 ...

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