NHL TOP TO BOTTOM

Team (Record) Comment

1. Detroit (24-9-3-1) Wings fly in 8-1 spurt.

2. Toronto (22-11-4-2) Antropov shines in 5-0 streak.

3. Philadelphia (20-11-6-1) Brind’Amour’s return a lift.

4. Ottawa (17-12-6-1) Scoring slump may be over.

5. New Jersey (20-12-4-2) Hat trick ends Gomez’s slump.

6. St. Louis (21-11-4-0) Points in 12 straight for Turgeon.

7. Dallas (17-15-5-1) Closer to Cup form.

8. Phoenix (21-12-3-0) Feasted on California teams.

9. Mighty Ducks (18-15-4-1) Two lapses in 5-2 surge.

10. Pittsburgh (15-16-3-4) Brooks spurs 7-2 turnaround.

11. Buffalo (15-16-5-1) Biron stands tall in Hasek’s place.

12. San Jose (19-17-4-2) Offense falters in 2-4 stretch.

13. Kings (16-13-6-2) Effort improves, results don’t.

14. Florida (20-12-3-3) Solid lead atop Southeast.

15. Calgary (15-17-5-1) On fringe of playoff race.

16. Colorado (17-16-4-1) Kids holding up well.

17. Boston (13-14-9-0) Lifeless in 2-7-4 skid.

18. Edmonton (12-16-9-5) Smyth (15 goals) steady scorer.

19. Nashville (11-20-5-2) Spunky in 1-0-3 streak.

20. Carolina (14-15-7-0) Primeau wouldn’t help 2-6 slump.

21. N.Y. Rangers (12-17-5-2) Better, but 1-3-1 slide hurts.

22. Montreal (12-20-4-1) Hackett getting sharper in net.

23. Atlanta (8-23-4-3) Sylvester, Brunette chip in.

24. Washington (12-16-6-1) No defense for or in 0-3-1 slide.

25. Chicago (10-21-5-2) Some life but not enough.

26. Vancouver (12-16-7-2) Potvin has tough challenge.

27. N.Y. Islanders (9-19-5-0) It’s Luongo’s Island.

28. Tampa Bay (10-20-5-3) Defense fails in 0-6-1 dive.

GAME OF THE WEEK

DETROIT RED WINGS at BUFFALO SABRES

When--Today. Time--4 p.m. TV--ESPN2.

* Story line--The Red Wings were the first team to reach 50 points and are on a 10-2 surge. Detroit winger Brendan Shanahan last week scored his 20th goal, the 12th consecutive season he has scored 20 or more. However, he’s well short of Gordie Howe’s NHL record of 22 consecutive 20-goal seasons, set from 1949-50 through 1970-71. That was when scoring 20 really meant a lot. The Sabres, last season’s Eastern Conference champion, had a tough start and haven’t been above .500, but they’re 4-2-2 since Dec. 8 and have given up two goals or fewer in every game during that stretch except the two losses. Miroslav Satan has awakened to score four goals in his last seven games.