The New Jersey Devils have been making strides the past 10 games and it has shown up in the weekly SB Nation NHL power rankings. This week the Devils find themselves moving up, while the Rangers and the Islanders stand pat.
New York Rangers: Despite the Rangers recent 0-4-1 tailspin, they are still tops among the local teams here at SB Nation New York. The Rangers, who were in seventh place last week, find themselves in the same exact place this week. Basically, everything is going wrong for the Rangers, at the wrong time. Marian Gaborik isn't scoring, both Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Biron have been slumping and the production that coach John Tortorella was getting from his team isn't yielding results. The Rangers have gone from having a very comfortable place in the playoffs, to dangerously close to falling below the cut-off line. The Rangers better straighten up if they want to avoid missing the playoffs for two consecutive years.
New Jersey Devils: The Devils have moved from 13th place to 11th this week, largely because of their 7-1-2 record their past 10 games. Ilya Kovalchuk is starting to show some signs of life but, more importantly, the Devils are starting to play a better team game. New Jersey wasn't anywhere near the playoffs three weeks ago, and they still have a ways to go, but they're making strides. The Devils are still 19-30-4, a pretty dismal record, but they were 12-29-2 three weeks ago, and they're looking like the Devils that we're all used to. It's been all good news for the Devils after a first half of nothing but misery.
New York Islanders: This Islanders season was filled with injuries before it started. This past week, it got even worse. Rick DiPietro picked a fight with Penguins goaltender Brent Johnson, got knocked out in one punch, and will now miss the next 4-6 weeks due to a fractured face. Aside from their 4-6-0 record their last 10 games the Islanders have a 17-28-7 record for an Eastern Conference-low 41 points. The good news? John Tavares seems to be settling in nicely in the NHL, with 18 goals and 21 assists so far this season. But that's really the end of the good news for the Islanders. The playoff race is slowing becoming impossible, unless they pick up their play.
Stay tuned here for all your Rangers, Islanders and Devils news.