The Blackhawks are back on top, but the real movers were down the board a bit. Say hello to the Islanders and Blues. Say "so long" -- for now -- to the Flames and Flyers. Here are this week's NHL power rankings, courtesy of Dispatch reporter Aaron Portzline, with last week's rankings in ( ):

1. Chicago (3): The panic in the Windy City after two straight losses -- one in overtime -- was something to see.

2. San Jose (1): One of the more dangerous offensive clubs in the NHL now has a penalty kill to match, with 16 straight kills.

3. Washington (5): The Caps have scored 36 goals in their past seven games. The Blue Jackets have scored 36 in their past 19 games.

4. Buffalo (2): The 10-game point streak lives on, but the Sabres are getting sloppy. Proof: a 3-2 shootout loss on Long Island.

5. New Jersey (4) -- Suffered back-to-back losses at Phoenix and Colorado, their first two games without a point since the first two games of the season.

6. Nashville (10): Pulled off the rare sweep of Western Canada with wins in Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary.

7. Phoenix (9): Emerged from a three-game skid with big wins over New Jersey and Minnesota, but a tough stretch lies ahead.

8. Colorado (8): It'll never happen, but one could make a serious case that goaltender Craig Anderson deserves MVP mention.

9. Vancouver (6): The Canucks have outscored opponents by 36 goals this season. Only Chicago (+55) and Washington (+46) have a bigger edge.

10. Pittsburgh (12): The Pens seemed to find their game out on the road, but they've got short-term injury issues in goal.

11. Los Angeles (13): Wins over Anaheim and Boston might have righted a teetering ship. Big week ahead: Buffalo, San Jose and at Detroit.

12. Calgary (7): Flaming out? The Flames have dropped four straight and six of their past seven. No regulation wins in their past eight.

13. Detroit (11): Lost three of four last week, including an embarrassing 6-0 loss on Long Island in which they were outshot 31-16 by the rebuilding Islanders.

14. Anaheim (17): If the Ducks can stay in the race, they could have an interesting trade deadline. Would any of the perrennial bottom-feeders be interested in Jean-Sebastien Giguere?

15. Boston (16): Post Winter Classic letdown? The Bruins are 2-4-1 since Jan. 1 heading into today's matinee with Ottawa.

16. Minnesota (18): The Wild are lethal at home: 16-6-1, including four straight wins. But they're just 8-16-2 on the road, including four straight losses.

17. N.Y. Islanders (23): The Islanders are the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference as of this morning. Seriously, after top three or four clubs, how bad is this conference?

18. N.Y. Rangers (15): After scoring one goal in a three-game span -- by Brian Boyle, no less -- the Rangers finally got it going Sunday with a 6-2 win over Montreal.

19. St. Louis (27): Deja vu? The Blues have won four straight, but can they close the gap with a monster finish like last season?

20. Philadelphia (14): After back-to-back losses, Mike Richards is sniping with the Philly media again. Trust us ... this will not end well.

21. Dallas (20): Nine straight road losses, and here's why. Goaltender Marty Turco has an .885 save percentage and Brad Richard is a minus-17 on the road.

22. Ottawa (19): The Sens are looking for a new goaltending coach. Could it be Ron Tugnutt -- the former Blue Jacket -- who lives near Ottawa?

23. Montreal (21): The Habs are so-so up front, so-so on defense and medicore in net. Which explains why they've hovered around .500 all season.

24. Atlanta (26): Maxim Afinogenov is right at home in a "system" that only suggests checking. He has 16 goals, as many as the previous two seasons in Buffalo.

25. Florida (25): The only hope they have is goaltender Tomas Vokoun. During a four-game point streak, he has a .943 save percentage.

26. Tampa Bay (22): Back-to-back losses to Florida = ugly. It's looking less and less like Mike Smith will be the answer in goal.

27. Columbus (24): A case of missing identity. The Jackets gets pushed around by the likes of St. Louis and can't match the skill of Chicago.

28. Carolina (28): The 'Canes are opening it up and putting lots of pressure on goaltender Cam Ward. Why not? Might as well have fun at this point.

29. Toronto (29): Goaltender Vesa Toskala pitches a 38-save shutout against the Flyers on Thursday. Then gets blasted 6-1 by Washington on Friday.

30. Edmonton (30): First Ales Hemsky. Now Nikolai Khabibulin. The Oilers are 1-13-1 -- the win over Toronto -- since Dec. 11.

aportzline@dispatch.com