February 2, 2010
Player Power Rankings
Miller Time

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. Ryan Miller retakes the No. 1 position after ceding it to Evgeni Nabokov, but only the Sharks manage to land two players in this week's top 10.

Puck Prospectus: Player Power Rankings

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        2          29.1        -0.5    -0.7     27.9 

Comment: Miller regains the top spot with a strong week in which he went 2-1-0, 1.63, 0.947. Miller leads the league in both GAA and save percentage.

2.   Evgeni Nabokov, G, SJ      1          24.9        -0.6     2.0     26.3 

Comment: With Dan Boyle out, Nabokov has been seeing a lot of rubber: he has faced 37 shots or more in four of his last five games, yet has maintained a 0.945 save percentage through them with four wins and an OT loss.

3.   Tomas Vokoun, G, FLA       3          26.2        -1.7    -2.3     22.2 

Comment: Vokoun has been on the biggest tear of any NHL goaltender this season: a 4-1 loss to Washington was the first time in six games he allowed more than one goal. Vokoun leads the league in shots faced and saves, the second time in three years he dominates both categories.

4.    Alex Ovechkin, F, WAS     4          18.7         2.8    -0.5     21.0   

Comment: Nothing says success like a 10-game winning streak, and the most conforting thing for the Capitals is that it's not all Ovechkin. While the captain has an impressive 18 points over those nine games, that still leaves 27 goals on which he wasn't involved.

5.    Henrik Sedin, F, VAN      5          16.5         3.4     0.0     19.9   

Comment: Another scoring machine with a strong supporting cast, Sedin's Canucks have won nine in a row, with Sedin contributing five goals and nine assists.

6.    Craig Anderson, G, COL   12          19.1        -1.0    -0.3     17.8   

Comment: After a midseason lull, Anderson has re-emerged as the biggest reason why the Avalanche still hold a playoff spot. In the last two weeks, he has an amazing 1.01 GAA and 0.966 save percentage.

 
7.    Sidney Crosby, F, PIT     6          12.8         2.5     2.4     17.7  

Comment: Crosby's biggest secret may be his penalty-killing: In the 39 minutes he's spent on the ice a man down, the Penguins have been outscored by one entire goal.

8.    Duncan Keith, D, CHI      9          10.3         6.5     0.0     16.8 

Comment: While Keith has been on the ice at even-strength this season, the Blackhawks have outshot the opposition by 184 shots, the best rating in the league.

9.    Patrick Marleau, F, SJ   10          13.7         3.7    -0.7     16.6 

Comment: Not only does Marleau have the most goals in the league, but he doesn't inflate his totals with easy work: of the top 10 scorers in the league, Marleau spends the least time on the power-play.

10.   Miikka Kiprusoff, G, CAL 14          20.0         0.0    -4.0     16.0 

Comment: Kiprusoff's brilliance has been masked Calgary's offensive woes, as the Flames are fourth worst in the Western Conference with only 140 goals scored and they recently lost nine games in a row even though Kiprusoff has maintained a respectable 2.48 GAA and 0.913 save percentage over his last nine games.

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.