AHL Power Rankings: New team in charge

Patrick Williams delivers FloHockey AHL Power Rankings every week throughout the regular season.

Four and a half months later, a new team is at the top of the AHL power rankings.

Move over, Grand Rapids Griffins. The Providence Bruins hold the top spot this week. The Griffins are on a 19-week winning streak that began on November 4th.

It's worth noting that both teams still have a chance to surpass the AHL season scoring rate record, which has stood for 33 years. The Binghamton Rangers' .775 performance was set in the 1992-93 season. Both Grand Rapids and Providence could break that record by the end of the AHL regular season on April 19.

Providence and Grand Rapids each have 14 games remaining and need to reach 112 points to break Binghamton's tally. The P-Bruins currently have 91 points and need to play .750 hockey the rest of the way to secure those 19 points. Grand Rapids currently has 90 points and must hit .786 down the stretch.

The P-Bruins will visit the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday before stopping in Utica on Friday. They will end the weekend at home against the Comets on Saturday. Grand Rapids has a three-in-three weekend with everything on the road, starting on Friday in Rockford.

1) Providence Bruins (+1)

2) Grand Rapids Griffins (-1)
Recent roster changes have taken a toll on the Griffins. Whether it's the constant commuting to Detroit or two trades that resulted in the Griffins losing veteran defenders Justin Hall and Ian Mitchell, the Griffins find themselves in a relative slump at the moment.

3) Ontario King's Landing(–)
After going 0-0-2-1 last week, the Reign have a chance to accumulate points this week. After Wednesday's home game against the Abbotsford Canucks, they'll travel to Iowa for a pair of games against the Wild. Playing against the bottom two teams in the league is an opportunity the Reign needs to take advantage of.

4) Laval Rocket(–)
If Jacob Fowler doesn't return to the Rockets anytime soon, the Rockets will at least have goalie insurance after acquiring two-time Calder Trophy winner Hunter Shepard from the Ottawa Senators. Not only is Kaapo Kähkönen a low-maintenance team, but a no-maintenance team, he leads the Rockets in net; he's able to sit out for long periods of time and then come in and make several starts in a row. Wednesday's home game against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins is a tough test. The teams will meet twice before the end of the month.

5) Syracuse Crunch(–)
On the ice, the team's 11-1-0-0 run came to a screeching halt with two poor games at home against the Toronto Marlies and Lehigh Valley Phantoms before losing to Laval in a shootout to settle for a point. Off the ice, the Crunch fared much better. The Tampa Bay Lightning acquired Mitchell in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings after adding Matthew Pekar in the trade. A quick trip to Rochester on Friday for a home game against the Cleveland Monsters this weekend.

6) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (+1)
Starting with that game in Laval, the Penguins would continue a 10-night stretch of six games. They were coming off a three-for-three weekend and a methodical 3-1 win at Lehigh Valley.

7) Charlotte Checkers (+2)
After a nearly three-week road trip that went 6-2-2-0, the Checkers return home and play six games at home. They defeated the Bridgeport Islanders in back-to-back games. They went with a three-goaltender rotation of Cooper Black, Luis Domingue and Kirill Grasimiuk, but it worked. Domingue and Graciemiuk gave Black a break last weekend and finished with a buzzer beater.

8) Colorado Eagles (+2)
For the Eagles, it's still a step forward and then a step back. They split two games in San Diego. The Eagles face a tough six-game road trip in the Pacific Division after two games at home against the Coachella Valley Firebirds this weekend.

9) San Jose Barracuda (-3)
How long goaltender Yaroslav Askarov is out for the San Jose Sharks will determine how long the Barracudas have to hang on without Laurent Brossoit. The veteran was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks in a January trade and has helped the Barracuda in net. Without him, they allowed 10 goals in two games last weekend in a loss to the Tucson Roadrunners.

10) Bakersfield Condors (-2)
With Leon Draisaitl out for the Edmonton Oilers, Max Jones comes in from the Condors. They were defeated by the Texas Stars last Saturday night, a team they will face twice at home later this month.

11) Cleveland Monsters (+1)
Like the good team that they are, the Monsters had two very winnable games, and they won. Heading into Hartford for two games, they defeated the Wolfpack and were within striking distance of second place in the North Division. However, as the Toronto Marlies heat up, they need to keep picking up points to avoid falling to fourth place and facing a best-of-three first-round series.

12) Coachella Valley Firebirds (+1)
In a home series against Pacific Division leader Ontario, the Firebirds proved they could compete with a top team like the Reign, posting back-to-back overtime wins. In the second game, they traveled to Ontario and held the Reign to 21 shots. They also got scoring help from veteran Cooper Mady.

13) Henderson Silver Knights (+2)
Ben Hemmerling couldn't stop scoring. When the Silver Knights got a little too run-and-gun, Carl Lindbom controlled this team in the game. Silver Knight is an all-night adventure, but they're fun to watch. They came from behind to win 7-6 in overtime last week in Tucson and ended the weekend with a 7-5 win in Abbotsford. After a six-game road trip in Calgary, they headed straight home to face the Texas Stars in back-to-back home games.

14) Chicago Wolves (-3)
The Wolves remain an enigma. They lost to the Iowa Wild and Rockford IceHogs before shutting out Grand Rapids. They scored just four goals in three games last week.

15) Texas Stars(-1)
The Stars split time with visiting Bakersfield last weekend in a series of Pacific Division games. After two games against Chicago this week, the team returns to the Pacific Division and begins a six-game trip this weekend in Henderson. They have a chance to quickly overtake the slumping Manitoba Moose for third place in the Central Division.

16) Toronto Marlies (-3)
Loading the season schedule early with all those road games could pay off for the Marlies right now. They opened up nine of ten games at Coca-Cola Arena with a win over the Rochester Americans last Saturday afternoon. Aside from a quick trip to Rochester for a game on March 27, the Marlies won't be on the road until April 10. While the Toronto Maple Leafs continue to be disappointed, at least the Marris have a chance to salvage something for the team.

the rest
17) San Diego Gulls (–)
18) Tucson Roadrunners(+1)
19) Manitoba Moose(-1)
20) Rochester Americans (-1)
21) Lehigh Valley Phantom (+1)
22) Belleville Senators (+3)
23) Springfield Thunderbirds (+1)
24) Milwaukee Admirals (+2)
25) Hershey Bears(-4)
26) Bridgeport Islanders (-3)
27) Comet Utica(–)
28) Calgary Wranglers (+1)
29) Rockford IceHogs (+3)
30) Abbotsford Canucks (-2)
31) Hartford Wolf Pack (–)
32) Iowa Wild(-2)

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