NHL TOP TO BOTTOM

Team (record) Comment

1. Colorado (46-13-9-4) Overpowered Detroit on Saturday.

2. Detroit (43-18-9-4) Questions linger in net.

3. New Jersey (40-17-12-3) Moving to head of the class.

4. Ottawa (41-20-8-3) Failed miserably against Dallas.

5. Dallas (41-24-6-2) Hull, Modano heating up.

6. St. Louis (40-18-10-4) Gave up a lot to get Tkachuk.

7. Philadelphia (40-21-10-2) Can Cechmanek keep it going?

8. Washington (37-24-10-2) Dark horse in the East.

9. Edmonton (35-25-10-3) Dark horse in the West.

10. Vancouver (35-23-8-7) Loss of Naslund will hurt.

11. Buffalo (39-26-5-1) Hasek keeping Sabres hot.

12. Kings (34-27-10-1) Potvin leading late surge.

13. San Jose (35-24-11-2) Only one win in last 11 games.

14. Pittsburgh (36-26-8-2) See No. 2 Detroit above.

15. Toronto (33-24-11-5) Going nowhere fast.

16. Phoenix (31-25-15-2) Staggering down the stretch.

17. Carolina (32-28-8-3) Playoff hopes depend on Irbe.

18. Boston (29-28-7-7) Why aren’t B’s better?

19. Nashville (30-33-8-3) Good move to keep Dunham.

20. Ducks (24-37-8-5) On a 5-2 roll since trading Selanne.

21. Chicago (29-33-7-3) Out of playoffs for fourth consecutive year.

22. Calgary (23-31-14-4) Firing Hay makes no sense.

23. Minnesota (24-34-10-5) Rookie Gaborik impressive.

24. Columbus (24-34-8-6) Expansion bragging rights at stake.

25. N.Y. Rangers (28-38-5-1) Dysfunctional team skating.

26. Montreal (24-38-6-4) Injuries have killed another season.

27. Florida (18-35-11-9) Bure league’s top cherry-picker.

28. Tampa Bay (22-40-6-4) Signing Khabibulin a wise move.

29. Atlanta (20-38-12-2) Trading Audette a dumb move.

30. N.Y. Islanders (19-44-6-3) When do Isles move to Portland?

GAME OF THE WEEK

EDMONTON at KINGS

* When--Wednesday. * Time--7:30. * TV--Fox Sports Net.

* Story line--The Western Conference playoff race gets serious this week. But the Kings will be facing one of the league’s hottest teams. Edmonton was 8-0-1-1 in its last 10 games before Monday’s 4-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. The Kings have lost two of three this season against the Oilers. Edmonton defeated the Kings, 5-0, in goalie Felix Potvin’s L.A. debut Feb. 20. The Oilers also won, 6-3, Feb. 12. The Kings defeated the Oilers, 4-2, Dec. 9. Keep an eye on the matchup between the Kings’ defense corps and the Oilers’ forwards, including Anson Carter, Doug Weight and Ryan Smyth. The winning side in that battle will probably wind up winning the game.