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With less than 30 games left in the NHL season the focus begins to shift to the seventh- to 10th-place teams in the Conferences. This is the point in the season where those teams have to make sure they stay in striking distance to keep playoff hopes alive. Up at the top the San Jose Sharks and the Boston Bruins have flip-flopped spots with a showdown Tuesday night between the two teams likely to determine who is top dog in the league.

1) San Jose Sharks
Previous Ranking: 2
Stanley Cup Odds: 3/1

San Jose has the fewest losses in the NHL and fewest goals allowed in the entire league. The Sharks game Tuesday against the Bruins may be a preview of the Stanley Cup Finals and give us a consensus top team in the NHL.

2) Boston Bruins
Previous Ranking: 1
Stanley Cup Odds: 6/1

Most points and wins in the NHL. Best goalie in Tim Thomas, best defensemen with Zdeno Chara and one of the top rookies in Blake Wheeler -- the Bruins have it all. And same thing goes for them in Tuesday's showdown with the Sharks.

3) New Jersey Devils
Previous Ranking: 5
Stanley Cup Odds: 12/1

The only thing more impressive than its recent 9-2 run is that this was accomplished with a guy by the name of Scott Clemmensen in net. He has a 22-11-1 record with a 2.36 GAA and .918 save percentage -- Brodeur like numbers indeed.

4) Detroit Red Wings
Previous Ranking: 3
Stanley Cup Odds: 3/1

The Red Wings exacted some revenge on the Penguins from an earlier season defeat at Joe Louis Arena with a 3-0 win at Mellon Arena on Sunday. The 199 goals the Red Wings have scored this season just look silly compared with any other team.

5) Washington Capitals
Previous Ranking: 4
Stanley Cup Odds: 9/1

Nearly unbeatable at home, the Alexander Ovechkin-led Capitals have gone 22-4-1 at the Verizon Center. Ovechkin may have taken the lead in Most Valuable Player voting with now a league-best 37 goals.

6) Calgary Flames
Previous Ranking: 8
Stanley Cup Odds: 15/1

The Flames have proven that they are not a one-trick pony - not even close. Michael Cammalleri leads the team in goals with 27 to go with 23 assists. Of course, Jarome Iginla has not had much of a down year either, he has 20 goals with 38 assists.

7) Chicago Blackhawks
Previous Ranking: 6
Stanley Cup Odds: 12/1

Jonathan Toews is quickly becoming a household name in the Windy City. The win over the Sharks turned some heads around the NHL.

8) Montreal Canadians
Previous Ranking: 7
Stanley Cup Odds: 14/1

Down but not out is what the Canadians are looking like. Robert Lang is on the shelf, they have lost seven of 10 and they have the unfortunate task of trying to chase the Boston Bruins in the Northeast.

9) New York Rangers
Previous Ranking: 10
Stanley Cup Odds: 20/1

The Rangers have to be happy with where they are considering they have been outscored 146-135 this season. It seems to be a statistical anomaly as the Rangers are very much in the race for Atlantic Division title.

10) Anaheim Ducks
Previous Ranking: 12
Stanley Cup Odds: 25/1

Scott Niedermayer is getting back to his Stanley Cup form, and just in time. The Ducks are too far out to put heat on the Sharks but they have a chance to solidify themselves as a top four seed.

11) Philadelphia Flyers
Previous Ranking: 9
Stanley Cup Odds: 16/1

Playing musical goaltenders in Philadelphia is not helping the cause. Martin Biron and his backup Antero Nittymaki continue to struggle to find some consistency.

12) Florida Panthers
Previous Ranking: 18
Stanley Cup Odds: 50/1

If the playoffs would start this week the Panthers would be on the outside looking in, but they continue to knock on the Eastern Conference playoff door. Their recent 5-3-2 surge helped their playoff push.

13) Buffalo Sabres
Previous Ranking: 14
Stanley Cup Odds: 45/1

The Sabres are on the opposite side of the Panthers in terms of the playoffs but it says here the Panthers find their way in while the Sabres find their way out of the playoffs unless Tim Connolly can keep up the scoring, Ryan Miller can maintain his solid goaltending play and if the Sabres remain healthy. But that's a lot of "ifs".

14) Phoenix Coyotes
Previous Ranking: 15
Stanley Cup Odds: 80/1

As long as you play in the Western Conference you have a shot for the playoffs and the Coyotes are right in the mix. Nobody may want to buy the franchise but fans would love to buy tickets for a team that is 16-9-2 at home this season and in a three-way tie for 11th place in the West.

15) Pittsburgh Penguins
Previous Ranking: 16
Stanley Cup Odds: 15/1

The Penguins continue to be a humongous disappoint this season, but can a three-goal rally against the Lightning the other night turn things around? It says here that it will.

16) Dallas Stars
Previous Ranking: 22
Stanley Cup Odds: 40/1

February is shaping up to be Dallas' month. It has won seven of its last 10 to vault itself right into the top six in the Western Conference.

17) Edmonton Oilers
Previous Ranking: 19
Stanley Cup Odds: 66/1

Allowing 166 goals at this point as opposed to only scoring 146, the Oilers do not exactly have the makeup of a playoff team. Back-to-back losses do not help either but Edmonton remains just a point outside of the top eight.

18) Carolina Hurricanes
Previous Ranking: 13
Stanley Cup Odds: 50/1

The Hurricanes have been able to win the games they are supposed to this year and that is a lot more than most teams in the NHL can say.

19) Columbus Blue Jackets
Previous Ranking: 20
Stanley Cup Odds: 66/1

Can anybody name the goalie with the top goals against average in the NHL? It is the Columbus' Steve Mason with a 2.09 GAA.

20) Minnesota Wild
Previous Ranking: 17
Stanley Cup Odds: 50/1

The hitman Cal Clutterbuck is quickly becoming a cult legend in the hockey-crazed city of Minnesota.

21) Vancouver Canucks
Previous Ranking: 11
Stanley Cup Odds: 36/1

January was not kind to the Canucks in terms of playing at home, but in February things have changed. Two home wins over the Hurricanes and Blackhawks with a combined 11 goals and the Canucks are back in the top eight in the Western Conference and one of the big surprise stories in the NHL.

22) St. Louis Blues
Previous Ranking: 26
Stanley Cup Odds: 250/1

The Blues have turned things on as of late. They have gone 6-1-3 in their last 10 games. If they were in the Eastern Conference they would be in shouting distance of a playoff spot -- but they aren't. So they are in last place in the Western Conference.

23) Tampa Bay Lightning
Previous Ranking: 27
Stanley Cup Odds: 150/1

It's another week and another climb up the Power Rankings for Tampa Bay. Unbelievably, the five worst teams in the NHL record wise are all from the Eastern Conference. After 53 games the Lightning, somehow, were only 12 points out of the playoff picture. That is quite some progress after the abominable start under Barry Melrose.

24) Toronto Maple Leafs
Previous Ranking: 25
Stanley Cup Odds: 250/1

The Maple Leafs are the best of the lousy bunch in the Eastern Conference. They are the fifth worst team in the conference and the fifth worst team in the NHL. That says more about the Eastern Conference than the Maple Leafs, who have allowed an NHL-worst 193 goals.

25) Colorado Avalanche
Previous Ranking: 21
Stanley Cup Odds: 100/1

You cannot count anybody out in the Western Conference but if the Avalanche lose seven of 10 like they just did again, then they will be the first out of the discussion.

26) Nashville Predators
Previous Ranking: 23
Stanley Cup Odds: 200/1

The Predators have won four straight and now find themselves within three points of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The only problem is that four teams are as close or closer and the Predators have been outscored by a total of 17 goals this season.

27) Los Angeles Kings
Previous Ranking: 24
Stanley Cup Odds: 250/1

It seems that all the lower-tier teams in the Western Conference are realizing just how wide-open the race is for the last few playoff spots. The Kings have put together a winning streak of their own with three straight wins and 6-3-1 record over their last 10.

28) Ottawa Senators
Previous Ranking: 28
Stanley Cup Odds: 250/1

Offensive ineptitude at its worst is what you see here. The Senators have scored 122 goals this year in 51 games. Their games are tough to watch to say the least but they have been rewarding the hometown crowd with a 12-9-5 home record.

29) Atlanta Thrashers
Previous Ranking: 29
Stanley Cup Odds: 600/1

At least the Thrashers are consistent. They are just as bad at home (9-16-2) as they are on the road (9-15-3). They have allowed an astonishing 190 goals through 54 games.

30) New York Islanders
Previous Ranking: 30
Stanley Cup Odds: 900/1

Their ranking cannot get any worse, but the odds to win the Stanley Cup do for the abysmal Islanders who are 6-19-2 on the road