THE TIMES’ RANKINGS: Top to Bottom

CAPSULES AND RANKINGS

Team (Record): Comment

1. Washington (7-1-0): Ron Wilson’s revenge.

2. St. Louis (7-1-1): No blues in 7-0-1 streak.

3. Pittsburgh (5-3-2): Four goals against in 4-0-1 streak.

4. Detroit (6-1-2): Loss to Maple Leafs a blot.

5. Boston (6-3-0): Four consecutive road wins, three shutouts.

6. Ottawa (5-2-2): Victories over Rangers, Devils, Stars.

7. Dallas (5-3-1): Modano leads 4-1 run.

8. Colorado (5-1-3): Sloppy loss to Calgary.

9. Philadelphia (5-3-1): LeClair earns big new salary.

10. New Jersey (4-3-0): Gilmour finally awakens.

11. NY Islanders (3-2-2): Palffy, Reichel spark offense.

12. Montreal (3-2-2): Goals too hard to come by.

13. Phoenix (4-2-1): Coyotes howling with 3-1-1 surge.

14. Vancouver (2-3-2): Messier not on scoresheet much.

15. Kings (2-4-3): They beat good teams, lose to bad ones.

16. Edmonton (3-5-1): Overtime victory ends three-game skid.

17. Mighty Ducks (2-3-2): They miss Kariya more and more.

18. NY Rangers (2-3-4): Scoring spotty, lose three of four.

19. Calgary (1-5-2): Can’t build on comeback against Colorado.

20. Florida (2-4-1): One goal in losing last two.

21. Toronto (2-5-1): Competitive, but just short.

22. Buffalo (2-5-2): Hasek, offense are struggling.

23. San Jose (2-5-0): Power play is 0 for six games.

24. Tampa Bay (2-5-1): Four consecutive losses, two goals.

25. Carolina (1-7-2): No wonder fans stay away.

26. Chicago (1-7-0): At least they won’t go 0-82.

GAME OF THE WEEK

WASHINGTON at COLORADO

* When--Wednesday. Time--6 p.m. TV--None.

* Storyline--This is the third game in a five-game trip for the Capitals and should be a good gauge of how much they’ve improved. They’re scoring more goals but without sacrificing much defensively: Goalie Olaf Kolzig is 6-0 and has given up more than two goals only once. The Avalanche inexplicably wasted a 4-0 first-period lead over Calgary on Friday and lost for the first time this season, then tied Vancouver on the road. Sandis Ozolinsh scored his first two goals last week and Joe Sakic has scored in six consecutive games.