NHL Power Rankings: Beating a dead horse, A.K.A. Western Conference Dominance

The Western Conference is home to the top six teams in the game at this point and Eastern Conference has six of the bottom seven.

My power rankings use a model based on underlying statistics and their predictive ability. The rankings were built on points earned, special teams, even strength play and goaltending, so they were constantly in flux. I'm still playing around with the model, and I've added opponents remaining this season. I've also updated the special teams evaluation so it's shots-based, not solely conversion based. Here is my best effort at predicting the standings and playoff pairings at the end of the season.

Broken out by conference

• San Jose is a tremendous machine right now - reminiscent of the Red Wings teams of the 90's except the Sharks have good goaltending. The scratches the other night: Dan Boyle, Brent Burns and Marty Havlat mean San Jose has depth to go far and players to trade should they need more help.
• On the other hand, Edmonton isn't looking so hot right now. Devan Dubnyk seems to have recovered from the early season swoon, but there are holes throughout that lineup.
• The Stars don't have a chance unless they start shooting more pucks with a man advantage and preventing more shots while short-handed.
• The Coyotes sit in the spot I thought the Oilers would occupy before the season started - 5th in the division, but holding the crossover spot.

• There are some really bad teams in the East, so take heart Toronto realists - even with a collapse, there are enough bad teams here than Toronto has a chance at the playoffs!
• The Islanders traded for the wrong Sabre.

The rankings predict the following playoff matchups:

Crossover teams in Phoenix and Tampa Bay invade the Central and Metro Divisions.