THE TIMES’ RANKING: top to BOTTOM
Team (Record): Comment
1. Dallas (36-13-8): Schedule is easy path to Presidents’ Trophy.
2. New Jersey (34-16-6): Needs Arnott to fill offensive void.
3. Colorado (29-13-16): Defense has to be more consistent.
4. Detroit (31-15-12): Age could be catching up.
5. Pittsburgh (29-16-13): Penguins proving to be more than Jagr.
6. Philadelphia (29-17-9): Weaknesses were exposed on recent trip.
7. Montreal (28-21-7): Power play makes Canadiens a threat.
8. St. Louis (30-21-8): Needs Hull to provide big goals.
9. Kings (26-20-9): Having best season since 1992-93.
10. Phoenix (24-22-11): Tkachuk can’t do it alone.
11. Washington (26-19-11): Can Olaf Kolzig keep this up?
12. Boston (23-22-11): Scoring decline is a concern.
13. Buffalo (22-21-12): Hasek will carry Sabres down the stretch.
14. Ottawa (23-25-10): Senators will stay close in every game.
15. Chicago (22-25-9): Strong penalty killing overcomes weak offense.
16. N.Y. Rangers (17-24-16): Campbell’s act is tired on Broadway.
17. Florida (18-27-12): Still trying to find spark from two years ago.
18. Edmonton (19-28-10): Blue line play has to get stronger.
19. N.Y. Islanders (20-29-8): Lacking on-ice leadership.
20. San Jose (21-28-7): Sharks can’t put together win streak.
21. Carolina (21-29-7): Imagine if Hurricanes had home-ice advantage?
22. Ducks (19-28-9): Must improve weak power play.
23. Calgary (16-30-11): Tabaracci and Roloson have struggled.
24. Toronto (19-29-7): Maple Leafs are not eliminated yet.
25. Vancouver (16-33-8): Could play role of playoff spoiler.
26. Tampa Bay (10-37-9): At least the Lightning reached 10 wins.
GAME OF THE WEEK
ST. LOUIS BLUES AT KINGS
* When--Saturday Feb. 28. Time--Noon. TV--Channel 11.
Story line--The Kings entered the Olympic break as the hottest team in the NHL. Their 9-1-1 streak moved them seven points and one position behind St. Louis for fourth place in the Western Conference playoff race. If the Kings are serious about getting home-ice advantage for the postseason, they are going to defeat the Blues. St. Louis, which has played four more games than the Kings, has struggled since Jan. 1 but the Blues are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games with the Kings.