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NHL Power Rankings: Red-hot St. Louis Blues overtake Predators, Blackhawks for top spot

By Patrick Schmidt

Jan 15, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott (1) watches the puck against the Detroit Red Wings during the first period at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 15, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott (1) watches the puck against the Detroit Red Wings during the first period at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 17, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott (1) deflects a puck against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the third period at Scottrade Center. The Blues defeated the Maple Leafs 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 17, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott (1) deflects a puck against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the third period at Scottrade Center. The Blues defeated the Maple Leafs 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

The Nashville Predators took over the top spot in the NHL power rankings last week but lost All-Star goalie Pekka Rinne to shake up the top spot for the second week in a row.

We are past the halfway point in the regular season and the All-Star break is later this week after as some players and teams will need to go back to the drawing board after a rough first half while others are basking in their first half glory and looking forward to a mini vacation.

One team who heads into the All-Star break after a highly successful first half but also reeling after a devastating injury is the Nashville Predators who lost Vezina front-runner Pekka Rinne to a knee injury. His injury dropped the Predators from the top spot in this week’s NHL power rankings but need to be careful plummeting to fourth place with the St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets within striking distance.

The Blues in particular are a dangerous team with wins in seven of their last nine games while the Blackhawks are suddenly in a bit of a funk after being knocked from the No. 1 spot for the first time in six weeks last week.

St. Louis is not the only team on fire heading into the All-Star break with Detroit, Winnipeg and Anaheim winners of four straight. Meanwhile Toronto, Arizona and Edmonton have lost four, five and 11 straight games, respectively.

With a short week upcoming due to the All-Star Game in Columbus on Sunday there likely won’t be much shakeup in next week’s edition so I made up for that with plenty of movement in this week’s power rankings.

So without further ado, here are the NHL power rankings entering the week of the All-Star Game.

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