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Team (Record) Comment

1. Dallas (38-11-9): Stars still shine without Hull.

2. Toronto (34-21-5): Goals keep coming in 4-1-2 push.

3. Ottawa (33-18-8): One win from tying club record.

4. New Jersey (33-20-8): Defense gets steadier.

5. Colorado (30-23-8): Fleury trade a winner.

6. Buffalo (28-20-12): Sabres 2-1-2 without Hasek.

7. Pittsburgh (32-20-7): Straka having career year.

8. Mighty Ducks (27-25-9): Power play, defense shine.

9. Detroit (31-25-6): Wasting too many leads.

10. Philadelphia (30-17-13): Gave up 37 in 2-7-1 slump.

11. Boston (25-24-10): Allison, Khristich lead 3-0-1 run.

12. Carolina (27-23-12): Irbe steady, offense balky.

13. St. Louis (25-24-10): Turgeon picks up offensive pace.

14. Phoenix (30-20-10): Outscored, 32-9, in 1-7 skid.

15. Florida (22-22-16): Bure can’t do it all.

16. Montreal (24-29-8): Hanging tough on East fringes.

17. N.Y. Rangers (25-28-7): Nedved subs for Gretzky.

18. Kings (23-33-5): Closing playoff gap.

19. Calgary (21-30-10): Won’t win without Fleury.

20. Washington (25-30-5): Still alive in East.

21. Edmonton (24-28-9): Lack of finisher hurts.

22. Nashville (21-33-6): Wait till next expansion.

23. San Jose (21-27-14): Lack of scoring a concern.

24. N.Y. Islanders (19-35-7): Lots of unhappy campers.

25. Vancouver (19-33-9): Naslund (31 goals) only positive.

26. Chicago (17-37-8): New coach, same old mistakes.

27. Tampa Bay (13-41-5): Sale to Bill Davidson imminent.

GAME OF THE WEEK

KINGS at MIGHTY DUCKS

When--Wednesday. Time--7:30 p.m.

TV--Channel 9.

* Story line--The battle for playoff positioning will enliven this rivalry. The Ducks, fueled by the NHL’s top power play, are comfortably fifth in the conference and can catch the faltering Coyotes for fourth. Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya are fourth and fifth, respectively, in the NHL scoring race and are on pace to top 100 points. The Kings have closed within five points of the final playoff spot but their offense stalls at bad times and their defense hasn’t sorted itself out. This will be the last of six consecutive road games for the Kings and ninth of 13 in a row against Western foes.

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THE NUMBERS GAME

Theo Fleury became only the eighth player in NHL history to be traded after having scored 30 goals at the time of the trade: *--*

Player Season Traded from (G)-Traded to (G) Mike Gartner 1989-90 Minnesota (34) to N.Y. Rangers (11) Mark Recchi 1991-92 Pittsburgh (33) to Philadelphia (12) Dino Ciccarelli 1988-89 Minnesota (32) to Washington (12) Geoff Courtnall 1987-88 Boston (32) to Edmonton (4) Doug Shedden 1985-86 Pittsburgh (32) to Detroit (2) John Cullen 1990-91 Pittsburgh (31) to Hartford (8) Norm Ullman 1967-68 Detroit (30) to Toronto (5) Theo Fleury 1998-99 Calgary (30) to Colorado

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