December 29, 2009
Player Power Rankings
Rangers' Surge

by Tom Awad

The Puck Prospectus metric GVT (goals versus threshold) allows us to compare players at every position to determine who the true leaders are. Everyone kept their spot in the top 10 this week, but for once, Ryan Miller looked human while Henrik Lundqvist continued to carry the New York Rangers back into the playoff race.

Puck Prospectus: Player Power Rankings

No one drops from the top 10, but Ryan Miller starts looking human again this week.

Legend:

OGVT: Offensive GVT

GGVT: Goaltending GVT

DGVT: Defensive GVT

SGVT: Shootout GVT

GVT: Total GVT

Rank Player                   Last Week    OGVT/GGVT    DGVT    SGVT     GVT
1.   Ryan Miller, G, BUF       1           19.7         0.2     0.7     20.6 

Comment: Coming back to Earth? Miller met his match in Washington, where the Capitals put five pucks past him -- only the third time this season he's allowed more than three goals in a game.

2.   Ilya Bryzgalov, G, PHO    4           15.2         0.7    -0.4     15.5

Comment: Stopped 69 of 73 shots (0.945) and collected his league-leading fifth shutout. Bryzgalov's play would all but guarantee him the No. 1 job on Russia's Olympic team …

3.   Evgeni Nabokov, G, SJ     6           14.8        -0.4     0.9     15.4 

Comment: … if it wasn't for the equally brilliant play of his countryman Nabokov. The Sharks are rolling again, with their high-powered offense and Nabokov's brilliance making up for the fact they're exposing him to many shots (47 against Chicago).

4.   Miikka Kiprusoff, G, CAL  2           16.3        -0.1    -1.4     14.7 

Comment: A quiet week for Kiprusoff's Flames, and hopefully they got their rest because the playoff race in the West will leave out at least one or two very good teams: The No. 9 team in the West (Detroit) would be the No. 6 seed in the East.

5.   Alex Ovechkin, F, WAS     7           11.9         2.0    -0.2     13.7 

Comment: Can you say "on fire"? Ovechkin's past three games have produced four goals, five assists, a plus-5 rating and three Capitals wins, including over Buffalo and New Jersey, two potential playoff opponents. Oh yes, and the Capitals are now No. 1 in the NHL.

6.   Sidney Crosby, F, PIT     3            8.7         2.2     2.4     13.3

Comment: Feast or famine for the Penguins, who were taken to the cleaners 4-0 by New Jersey before annihilating the Senators 8-2, a game in which Crosby got three assists. Interesting note: The Pens have yet to face Ovechkin's Capitals this season.

 
7.   Marian Gaborik, F, NYR    5           11.0         2.6    -0.8     12.8 

Comment: Rocket Richard? Gaborik leads the goal-scoring race with 26, but he has some serious competition in Patrick Marleau and Alex Ovechkin, both of whom have better centermen than Gaborik does.

8.   Henrik Lundqvist, G, NYR 10           13.2        -0.4    -0.1     12.7 

Comment: Lundqvist has hauled the Rangers back into the playoff picture. In his past five games, he is an amazing 4-0-1, 1.58 GAA, 0.951 save percentage. That'll do it.

9.   Zach Parise, F, NJ        8            7.6         2.9     1.6     12.2 

Comment: Despite his very good season, Parise is actually below last year's scoring rate, where he had 45 goals and 94 points. But the Devils still have the best winning percentage in the NHL.

10.  Henrik Sedin, F, VAN      9            9.7         2.2     0.0     11.9

Five points in two games, as the Canucks roll to a pair of 4-1 victories. If the twins stay healthy, Henrik may even challenge Joe Thornton for the overall scoring lead, and the Canucks will make an extremely dangerous No. 7 or No. 8 playoff seed.

A version of this story originally appeared on ESPN Insider .

Tom Awad is an author of Hockey Prospectus. You can contact Tom by clicking here or click here to see Tom's other articles.