The Philadelphia Flyers, with arguably the deepest roster in the league, have taken over the top spot in the OCTR Power Rankings through the end of January. After two months of sitting in second, they have leaped over division-rival Pittsburgh, who has dropped to third ? thanks in large part to Sidney Crosby spending most of the month injured. The Vancouver Canucks continued their steady climb up the ranks and sit in second, while the Boston Bruins have joined the ranks of the elite and jumped over Detroit to sit in fourth. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the New Jersey Devils no longer reside in the basement, jumping three spots to 27th. The St. Louis Blues, one-time #1 team in the rankings, had a free-fall to 25th. Biggest jump: Phoenix +8. Biggest drop: St. Louis -10. All stats and information as of January 31, 2011; last month?s ranking in brackets 1. Philadelphia Flyers ? 110.854 (2) The Flyers are absolutely rolling, and look like a team destined to make a second consecutive Stanley Cup Finals appearance. Of note: tied for the top even strength goals per game differential of 1.43 (120-84). 2. Vancouver Canucks ? 104.506 (4) This is perhaps Vancouver?s best ever team. They are ranked top-3 in both power play (23.5%) and penalty killing (84.3%), and first in faceoffs (55.8%). Imagine if they were better than 4-9 in overtimes. 3. Pittsburgh Penguins ? 99.001 (1) Hard to be upset about the Penguins letting the Flyers temporarily slip away given the loss of Sidney Crosby. They own the league?s best PK unit (88.5%) and have allowed the second-fewest even strength goals (76). 4. Boston Bruins ? 98.270 (6) Still riding the impressive play of Tim Thomas, they need to cut down the shots against (34 per game). Best in goal prevention at 2.14 against per game, including a league-low 74 when even strength. 5. Detroit Red Wings ? 95.060 (3) The Wings have been decimated by injuries once again (Datsyuk, Cleary, Holmstrom, Osgood, Stuart), but are still just five points behind Vancouver for the West?s best team; 2nd in goals per game at 3.35. 6. Chicago Blackhawks ? 88.461 (10) The defending champs are much better than their record suggests, they just lack consistency. Marty Turco has struggled mightily, leaving rookie Corey Crawford to carry the load. Their PK needs to improve greatly (78.3%). 7. Dallas Stars ? 84.782 (13) I keep waiting for them to stumble, but the Stars are still proving everyone wrong in still leading the Pacific Division and right behind Detroit overall. Difficult to pull off when you allow four more shots than you take every game. 8. Tampa Bay Lightning ? 84.096 (12) Fortunate to be leading their division with the lack of goaltending they received early on (+4.5 on shots per game, but allowed more goals than they scored), but acquiring Dwayne Roloson should help dramatically. 9. Montreal Canadiens ? 83.921 (14) Losing Mike Cammalleri long-term will hurt a team already struggling to score (2.58 per game, bottom third of the league). Their penalty kill will need to continue being excellent (84.2%). 10. Washington Capitals ? 83.386 (7) Typically one of the most explosive offenses in the league, the Caps own an atrocious power play so far this season (17.1%), while Ovechkin continues scoring at a slower pace (for him). 11. New York Rangers ? 83.263 (9) Dismal power play (16%) offsets a great penalty kill (83.9%). Losing Dubinsky for an extended period certainly hurts, so they need Gaborik to re-gain his 40-goal touch. 12. Los Angeles Kings ? 82.307 (5) Perhaps the most inconsistent team in the league this year, going 5-8 in January after 9-4-1 in December. Only 16.8% success rate on the PP, but a tidy 6-1 in overtimes. 13. Nashville Predators ? 80.991 (19) The Preds are the NHL?s hottest team, going 9-3 in January, jumping all the way into a tie for fourth in the tight Western race on the back of the fewest goals against in the Conference. Still only 13.8% on the PP though. 14. Phoenix Coyotes ? 76.169 (22) This month?s biggest mover is starting to find their groove again. Their offense is increasing and Bryzgalov is looking more formidable. Brutal in one-goal-games (winning 39.1%) and OT (2-9). 15. Colorado Avalanche ? 75.422 (8) One month after I anoint them a sure-bet playoff team, they hit a skid a little bit. Last year?s Vezina-nominee Craig Anderson has been really shaky, and they allow over 31 shots per game. Also in the bottom-third in even strength goals allowed. 16. San Jose Sharks ? 74.538 (11) The offense is shelling out 5.5 more shots per game than the defense allows, and the Sharks may be turning the corner on a 4-0-1 streak before the break. Niemi is looking more solid as well. 17. Buffalo Sabres ? 73.958 (21) After a very nice 8-3-1 month, Buffalo gets word that they will have a new billionaire owner, which should make all Sabres fans, players and management extremely excited. 18. Calgary Flames ? 73.124 (20) The Flames are 6-1-1 in the last two weeks, who would have thought? Even crazier, they are only two points out of eighth, albeit with four teams to jump. 19. Florida Panthers ? 69.018 (17) They still have the worst PP in the league, barely holding onto double-digits (11.0%). Between now and the trade deadline, the only interesting story will be how many veterans get dealt. I?m surprised that they rank above Carolina and Atlanta. 20. Carolina Hurricanes ? 67.947 (24) They should be higher, sure, but they should also be doing better than 3.02 goals against per game and 33.7 shots against per game. Great job by Raleigh in hosting the All-Star Weekend though. 21. Atlanta Thrashers ? 65.862 (16) Just like Carolina, should be higher. But just like Carolina, struggling defensively (3.08 goals against, 34.4 shots against). Dustin Byfuglien in a scoring slump isn?t helping their case for the playoffs either. 22. Anaheim Ducks ? 65.791 (23) On the backs of Hiller and Perry, they have kept their heads above water (no pun intended) without captain Getzlaf ? who should be back soon. Poor Hiller still facing an obscene amount of shots (34.4 per game). 23. Minnesota Wild ? 65.447 (25) Very good special teams (21.1% PP, 82.3% PK) continues to mask the fact that this team cannot produce enough offense when even strength (80-85 goal differential); averaging only 25.9 shots per game to 31.9 against. 24. Columbus Blue Jackets ? 61.596 (18) It once looked like the year Columbus was headed back to the playoffs; it no longer looks like that year. 2.57 goals for, 3.06 against, and being outscored 84-92 even strength. 25. St. Louis Blues ? 61.381 (15) Hard to believe that after the first month of the season, St. Louis lead the league in OCTR. Now, it doesn?t even appear the playoffs are likely after earning only 25% of the available points in their last ten games. 26. Toronto Maple Leafs ? 48.069 (27) Sometimes they look real good (when they beat Atlanta, L.A. and San Jose by a combined 16-7), but it is more often that they don?t. Hard to get a lot of goals with Tyler Bozak and Joey Crabbe on your ?first line?. 27. New Jersey Devils ? 36.145 (30) I wasn?t sure they were ever going to climb out of the basement this season, but thanks to a 6-1-1 finish to the month of January, the Devils increased their OCTR total by more than 20 points in a month. 28. Edmonton Oilers ? 32.014 (28) About the only thing for Edmonton to look forward to, is Taylor Hall?s run at a Calder in the second half. The team itself keeps finding new ways to lose, but that another lottery pick would sure help their future. 29. Ottawa Senators ? 31.141 (26) The fire-sale is about to begin, with GM Bryan Murray open for business and everyone but Alfredsson and Karlsson available. Wonder if anyone will be tempted to trade for Kovalev? 30. New York Islanders ? 27.653 (29) They only have a two-point lead over New Jersey in the real standings as they fight with them and the Oilers for the best odds at first overall. It would only help the franchise to add another potential star to build with. Nick is RealGM?s NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email nick.obergan@realgm.com or on twitter @NickObergan