THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

HELENE ELLIOTT’S NHL RANKINGS, COMMENTS:

*--* No. Team (Rec.) Comment 1 NEW JERSEY (11-3-4-0) Tight defense, balanced scoring in 9-0-2 streak. 2 PHILADELPHIA (12-2-4-1) Amonte, Recchi backbone of 8-0-1 surge. 3 BOSTON (11-3-3-3) Rolston has five goals in last five games, Murray has four. 4 TAMPA BAY (11-2-3-1) Fewest games played, but still picking up points. 5 ST. LOUIS (12-5-0-1) Osgood stands tall in net; Tkachuk, Demitra lead offense. 6 VANCOUVER (12-6-2-2) Defensemen Jovanovski, Salo boost offense. 7 KINGS (10-7-1-1) Kids stepping up, compensating for injured veterans. 8 ATLANTA (11-7-3-1) Spunky Thrashers win four straight after losing three. 9 DETROIT (11-9-2-0) Bad loss to Washington shows inconsistency. 10 COLORADO (12-7-1-1) Goalie situation still looms as a problem. 11 EDMONTON (10-8-2-0) Free agent Oates likely to make debut this week. 12 TORONTO (9-6-5-2) Happy to go home after 1-2-2-1 West swing. 13 MONTREAL (9-10-1-1) Spoiled Oilers’ outdoor party. Gotta love Theodore’s cap. 14 MINNESOTA (8-10-3-0) Daigle (eight goals) pleasant surprise in so-so season. 15 OTTAWA (8-7-2-2) Four losses in last five could bring changes on defense. 16 SAN JOSE (5-6-8-2) Sturm (six goals in last six games) excels in 2-0-2-1 surge. 17 BUFFALO (9-10-2-1) Noronen stalwart in goal, but offense inconsistent. 18 CALGARY (9-8-0-2) Reinprecht, McAmmond behind three-game winning streak. 19 DALLAS (9-10-3-0) Underachievers of the year. Modano still invisible. 20 PHOENIX (6-9-5-1) Lose third straight after being unbeaten in four. 21 DUCKS (7-7-2-5) Can’t recapture overtime magic they had last spring. 22 N.Y. RANGERS (7-7-4-2) Dunham (sore groin) fragile. Effort spotty in 2-4-2-1 skid. 23 N.Y. ISLANDERS (9-8-2-0) Scoring stalls in 2-5 slide. Parrish still in trade rumors. 24 NASHVILLE (9-10-1-0) Hartnell (seven goals) developing nicely. 25 COLUMBUS (7-10-2-1) Nash turns heads with 12 goals. 26 PITTSBURGH (5-10-3-1) Without Lemieux (hip injury), Penguins are 2-6-0-1. 27 FLORIDA (9-12-2-0) Luongo seeing too many shots behind sloppy defense. 28 CHICAGO (6-9-4-3) Averaging fewer than two goals. Mired in 0-4-1-3 fall. 29 WASHINGTON (6-13-1-1) Jagr picking up pace, but not getting much help. 30 CAROLINA (5-9-7-0) Latest slump is 0-3-2, scoreless in last two.

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