Helene Elliott’s NHL rankings

Through Monday’s games

Rank; Team; Record; (last week’s ranking)

1. Detroit; 15-4-2; Red Wings’ sweep of weekend series with the previously hot Blue Jackets sends message to the wannabes of the NHL. (1)

2. Washington; 17-6-2; Capitals have won three straight. Defenseman Mike Green, out two games with undisclosed injury, left during OT on Sunday after blocking a shot with his knee. (4)

3. Pittsburgh; 16-8-2; Sidney Crosby has a 13-game point streak and the league scoring lead. The Penguins have won seven in a row. (11)

4. Montreal; 15-8-1; The Canadiens have won seven of their last 10 and six of their last seven on home ice. The Bell Centre isn’t as intimidating as the Forum, but the numbers are good. (5)

5. Philadelphia; 15-6-4; Flyers complain overtime goal against Calgary shouldn’t have been nullified after Chris Pronger waved his hand in Miikka Kiprusoff’s face. Sorry, no sympathy. (2)

6. Columbus; 14-8-0; Blue Jackets get an education during back-to-back losses to the Red Wings. They’re still solid, though, and impressive on the road at 8-2-0. (6)

7. Phoenix; 11-6-5; Will blown lead against Ducks on Saturday be a blip in Coyotes’ otherwise impressive recent turnaround? (9)

8. N.Y. Rangers; 14-11-1; They’ve won seven of 11 and they’re getting great work from backup goalie Martin Biron, who has a 2.15 goals-against average, and .917 save percentage. (15)

9. Vancouver; 12-7-3; Up-and-down Canucks on the rise: They beat Colorado and San Jose by combined 10-3 to end four-game winless streak.(13)

10. Atlanta; 12-9-3; Thrashers have won five straight by total of 19-3. Dustin Byfuglien leads defensemen in scoring with nine goals and 25 points. (22)

11. Dallas; 14-8-1; Stars have won four straight after sweeping home-and-home series with the Blues and winning at Carolina on Monday. (19)

12. Chicago; 13-11-2; The Blackhawks have looked better lately in mounting 5-2 surge. But their power play has been blanked in three straight games. (14)

13. Tampa Bay; 13-8-3; It took the Lightning 24 games to get to a shootout. After losing the tiebreaker to Florida, team is in no hurry for another one. (12)

14. Boston; 12-8-2; Bruins are 1-3-1 in their last five and lost their last two by a combined 7-1. (7)

15. Colorado; 13-9-1; Losing their leading goal scorer, Chris Stewart, to a broken hand will test this not-very-deep team. Stewart had 11 goals and 25 points in 23 games. (8)

16. Kings; 13-10-0; Wanted: productive left wing to play on top line. Send resume to Dean Lombardi. Gritty energy players need not apply — those jobs are filled. (3)

17. St. Louis; 12-7-3; Blues miss David Perron, who is progressing slowly in recovery from concussion he suffered earlier this month. (10)

18. San Jose; 11-7-4; Inconsistency, thy name is Sharks. Injuries left them with only four defensemen Saturday at Edmonton and they barely hung on to win, leaving them 5-2-3 in last 10. (17)

19. Minnesota; 11-10-2; Wild is wilting as goalie Niklas Backstrom wears down from overwork and gives up 23 goals in four losses. (16)

20. Nashville; 9-8-5; Predators are winless in four after losses to Columbus, St. Louis, Minnesota and the Rangers. (18)

21. Ducks; 12-11-3; A season of extremes continues: They won six straight then lost six straight before rallying past Phoenix on Saturday and shutting out the Kings on Monday. (21)

22. Carolina; 10-11-3; Hurricanes Coach Paul Maurice became the youngest coach to be behind the bench for 1,000 games, at age 43. A few more losses and he’ll look 63. (25)

23. Ottawa; 11-13-1; Senators’ loss to lowly Oilers is their third in four games and sixth in eight. (20)

24. Florida; 10-12-0; Panthers have an 0 for 37 streak on the power play and are only five for 78 overall, a 6.4% success rate. (23)

25. Buffalo; 9-13-3; Sabres can’t find consistent balance. They’ve lost four of six after a 4-0-1 surge. (24)

26. New Jersey; 8-14-2; The Devils beat Washington, Calgary and Philadelphia but lost to the Islanders. Go figure. Ilya Kovalchuk has one goal in 15 games. (28)

27. Calgary; 10-12-2; Flames earned four points of possible 10 on Eastern trip, and Jarome Iginla got assurance he wouldn’t be traded. (27)

28. Toronto; 8-11-3; Two-year anniversary of Brian Burke’s arrival as general manager not a happy occasion as Maple Leafs have won only three of their last 10. (26)

29. Edmonton; 7-12-4; Rookie Jordan Eberle (four goals, 15 points) has been among the few pleasant surprises for the Oilers. (29)

30. N.Y. Islanders; 5-12-5; They ended their 14-game winless streak with a shutout of the Devils. Scary thing is they’re not even sure of getting the No. 1 draft pick in 2011. (30)

helene.elliott@latimes.com

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