The News' Bucky Gleason ranks the NHL top to bottom.

(Through Thursday's games; last week's ranking in parentheses)

1 Pittsburgh Penguins. Gonchar's broken wrist will hurt PP. (1)

2 Calgary Flames. Most goals per game (3.89), fewest shots (23.6). (3)

3 Washington Capitals. Schultz's 180-footer is first of three in 88 seconds. (5)

4 San Jose Sharks. Thornton, Heatley combine for zero shots versus Bolts. (4)

5 Philadelphia Flyers. Three of top five scorers were defensemen. (6)

6 Chicago Blackhawks. Toughness an issue with Eager, Burish out. (2)

7 Buffalo Sabres. Blowout over Florida felt like a day at the beach. (9)

8 Boston Bruins. Two-thirds of top line gone after Savard, Lucic injuries. (8)

9 Detroit Red Wings. Leading scorer Zetterberg stuck on one goal. (7)

10 New Jersey Devils. Elias cleared for practice after groin surgery. (14)

11 New York Rangers. Kotalik playing well, but his time here was up. (16)

12 Vancouver Canucks. Mitchell's hit made Toews wobble like a newborn calf. (11)

13 St. Louis Blues. Conklin deserves more playing time. (12)

14 Dallas Stars. Rookie LW Jamie Benn has eight points in first 10 NHL games.

(15)

15 Edmonton Oilers. Brule nets two winners during three-game span. (17)

16 Anaheim Ducks. Excitement last week was across the street with Angels. (10)

17 Montreal Canadiens. Goaltending controversy brewing with Halak better than

Price. (22)

18 Carolina Hurricanes. Whitney hits 1,000-game mark with franchise. (13)

19 Phoenix Coyotes. Mueller needs to get his game back on track. (23)

20 Los Angeles Kings. Kopitar producing like Ovechkin, with less help. (19)

21 Columbus Blue Jackets. Twelve goals against in L's to Calgary, Edmonton. (18)

22 Colorado Avalanche. Foote, Tucker serving as billets for rookies Duchene,

O'Reilly. (24)

23 Ottawa Senators. Spezza, Cheechoo had zero goals in first eight games. (20)

24 Tampa Bay Lightning. Yo Vinny, you finally scored a goal this season, huh?

(21)

25 Atlanta Thrashers. Goose eggs for Antropov, Little, Kozlov. (25)

26 Nashville Predators. OK, how is Legwand worth $5 mill? (27)

27 Minnesota Wild. Koivu has two points, shootout winner, in first game as

captain. (29)

28 Florida Panthers. Clemmensen breaks Luongo's record for earliest hook. (28)

29 Toronto Maple Leafs. Stempniak: "We've hit rock bottom, but we're going to

get out of it." (26)

30 New York Islanders. Isles fan Trubish thinks they should be higher. Sorry.

(30)