1/12 Power Rankings Roundup: Predators drop slightly with mediocre week

In the past week, the Nashville Predators stayed afloat in the mainstream media's power rankings by winning 4 out of a possible 8 points. Wins over Vancouver and Carolina have put the Predators in 5th place in the conference, and 8th in the league. The week was a bit of a crazy one, with four games, goalie swaps, injuries to Steve Sullivan, Jason Arnott, and Joel Ward, and some strange referee accusations from Vancouver super-pest Alex Burrows.

Follow after the jump where the Preds average out at 11th and the Chicago Blackhawks remain the NHL's best team...

Craig Custance has the Predators in at 10th, down two spots:

Patric Hornqvist is on pace for 31 goals—not bad for the 230^th overall pick in the 2005 draft.

FoxSports drops Nashville 3 spots to 10th:

In the opening game of the week, the Predators saw their three-game winning streak come to an end when the team dropped a 3-1 decision to the Flames. Patric Hornqvist led the Preds to their only win of the week, recording two goals and one assist in a 4-2 win over Carolina on Jan. 7.

The Hockey News places Nashville in 10th as well, also a 3 spot drop:

The Preds don’t have a single player in the top 80 in league scoring

Wes Goldstein of CBSSports.com puts the Predators in 9th, down two spots:

Second-year forward Patric Hornqvist is picking up steam with 12 goals in his past 16 games.

ESPN drops the Preds one spot to 11th:

The Preds get a top point producer back in the form of Martin Erat but have hit a bit of a flat spot in their schedule. (They've won just four of their past nine games.)

TSN.ca continues their undervaluing of Nashville, dropping them four spots to 17th:

Anyone might have expected Martin Erat or Patric Hornqvist to be contributors for the Predators this season, but rare is the person that would have expected them to lead the Preds in goals with 15 and 17, respectively.

Finally, SI.com's Allan Muir drops Nashville four spots to 12th:

Nice to have Martin Erat return and score a goal in Saturday's 3-2 loss to Anaheim. The Czech Olympian was on fire before missing four games (knee injury), scoring 10 goals and 18 points in his previous 14 games. But even at that pace, he couldn't have kept up with Patric Hornqvist, who has 12 Johnny-on-the-spot goals since Dec. 14, including the other marker vs. the Ducks.