NHL TOP TO BOTTOM

Team (record) Comment

1. St. Louis (13-3-3) Backup goalie Johnson has two shutouts.

2. Colorado (14-4-3) Just don’t play Phoenix, Kings.

3. San Jose (12-4-2) Rookie goalie Nabokov scary good.

4. Kings (11-6-4) Not this good, but 6-0-2.

5. Phoenix (11-4-6) Blown out by Ducks.

6. Edmonton (12-8-3) Goalie Salo sizzles.

7. Detroit (12-7-1-1) Loss of Chelios hurts.

8. Ottawa (10-5-4) 141:40 without scoring.

9. Dallas (10-5-3-1) Big win over Detroit.

10. Pittsburgh (10-6-2-1) Is Jagr the coach?

11. Toronto (10-6-3-1) Send more Canadiens.

12. New Jersey (8-8-3) Gang’s all (back) here.

13. Vancouver (11-5-3-1) Rude return for Rangers’ Messier.

14. Buffalo (10-5-2-1) Just play ‘em all at home.

15. N.Y. Rangers (10-9-0) Fleury already equals last season.

16. Mighty Ducks (8-9-3-2) Gauthier’s talk (threat?) sparks.

17. Philadelphia (9-7-4) Youth is served.

18. Nashville (7-7-5-1) Still .500, under $20 million.

19. N.Y. Islanders (6-9-2-1) Capt. Jonsson not the problem.

20. Carolina (6-9-3-1) Somebody has to lead Southeast.

21. Tampa Bay (6-9-2-1) Recent four-game win streak.

22. Chicago (6-10-2-2) In throes of eight-game trip.

23. Columbus (7-12-1-1) Beating Kings started a trend.

24. Atlanta (4-6-6-1) Actually led division briefly.

25. Calgary (5-11-3-3) 2-10-3 in last 15.

26. Washington (4-9-6-1) Anybody want Peter Bondra?

27. Minnesota (5-12-3-1) Embarrassed Boston.

28. Boston (6-9-2-2) Keenan needs more players.

29. Florida (3-8-4-3) Coaching change is imminent.

30. Montreal (5-13-2) It doesn’t get lower than this.

GAME OF THE WEEK

PHILADELPHIA AT BUFFALO

When--Wednesday. Time--4 PST.

TV--No local television.

* Story line--The Sabres are 8-0-2 at home, but somebody is going to beat them there. It might as well be Philadelphia, which is getting a lot of mileage out of kids Justin Williams (19 years old, five goals) and Simon Gagne (20, six goals in last six games). It has been enough to give the Flyers, woeful in October, five wins in a row. Buffalo was briefly atop the Eastern Conference--admittedly no great shakes this season--and on a 4-0-1 run until Saturday night, when it invaded St. Louis, the only other NHL team unbeaten at home.