NHL TOP TO BOTTOM

Team (Record) Comment

1. New Jersey (30-13-5-3) Roll reaches 10-1-2.

2. Florida (28-15-4-3) Bure scores 12 in 8-2-1 surge.

3. Phoenix (26-16-6-0) Tkachuk still a Coyote--for now.

4. Dallas (25-18-5-2) Grit compensates for injuries.

5. Washington (21-17-8-1) Can that Jordan guy skate?

6. Toronto (27-16-6-3) Defense could be tighter.

7. Detroit (28-14-6-1) Lidstrom solid Norris candidate.

8. Colorado (24-18-7-1) Great at home, but 0-3-1 on road.

9. Ottawa (24-16-8-2) Better week on ice than off.

10. Philadelphia (25-14-8-1) Get big (Primeau) and bad (0-3-2)

11. St. Louis (28-14-6-0) MacInnis injury hurts them too.

12. N.Y. Rangers (20-20-7-3) Making noise with 8-1 push.

13. Calgary (23-20-5-1) Ninth OT victory sets record.

14. Edmonton (15-20-13-7) Offense scores 18 in last four.

15. Montreal (16-25-6-2) Making up ground in 4-1-1-1 streak.

16. Kings (20-19-7-3) Time for hot goalie to emerge.

17. San Jose (22-23-6-5) Damphousse scores one in last 19.

18. Ducks (20-23-6-1) Rucchin’s return a boost.

19. Boston (16-21-13-4) No big hits or big saves.

20. Pittsburgh (19-23-4-5) Defense needs discipline, muscle.

21. Carolina (19-22-8-0) Good riddance to greedy Primeau.

22. Nashville (18-25-6-4) Scrappy but not big or deep enough.

23. Chicago (16-27-6-2) Occasional flashes of adequacy.

24. Buffalo (18-24-6-1) Win over Ducks interrupts skid.

25. Vancouver (14-23-10-5) No money from feds, no wins.

26. Atlanta (11-30-6-3) Finally score 100 goals.

27. N.Y. Islanders (11-30-6-1) Latest skid is 2-10-1.

28. Tampa Bay (11-29-6-4) Backward slide continues.

Through Monday’s games

Game of the Week

New Jersey at Detroit

When--Saturday. Time--4:30 p.m. PST.

TV--ESPN2.

* Story line--The conference leaders meet in a possible Stanley Cup final preview. New Jersey left wing Patrik Elias has made fans forget he was a training-camp holdout. He has a 13-game point-scoring streak and has 19 goals and 34 points in his last 28 games. Center Petr Sykora (15 goals, 41 points) is challenging rookie Scott Gomez (13 goals, 44 points) for the team scoring lead. Red Wing goalie Chris Osgood has only two victories since he returned from a broken hand. The Red Wings are 1-3-2 in their last six games; center Sergei Fedorov was benched for lack of production but also had a sore neck. General Manager Ken Holland may have hurt morale by rescinding a contract offer to center Igor Larionov, citing budget reasons. Larionov is popular among his teammates, especially his fellow Russians.