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Team (Record)Comment

1. Philadelphia (24-10-10) 13-5-5 on the road.

2. Ottawa (25-14-6) The Arts 1, Yashin 0.

3. Toronto (27-16-3) 4-1-1, but what of Cujo?

4. Buffalo (23-13-7) Hasek shoots, he scores in skills.

5. Dallas (27-9-7) Defense slumps in 2-4-1.

6. Phoenix (24-11-7) Bad tie finishes 3-4-3.

7. New Jersey (25-14-5) 2-0 in Southern California.

8. Pittsburgh (20-14-7) All-Star Jagr gets no break.

9. Colorado (22-19-4) 5-0 going into all-star break.

10. Florida (17-16-11) All aboard the Russian Rocket.

11. Boston (20-16-7) Dafoe 2.06 goals-against.

12. Detroit (23-20-3) Can’t be this bad.

13. Edmonton (18-19-7) Big bang for bucks.

14. San Jose (15-18-12) Telling 10-game trip ahead.

15. Carolina (20-18-7) Road weariers.

16. Montreal (17-21-8) Where is the defense?

17. Mighty Ducks (17-19-9) Offense is a one-liner.

18. St. Louis (16-17-9) Punch is on defense.

19. N.Y. Rangers (17-21-7) Wanted, needed Bure.

20. Nashville (16-25-4) Predators no more.

21. Kings (16-25-4) 1-4-1, now a rough trip.

22. Washington (16-23-4) Offense balanced, boring.

23. Calgary (15-27-4) Still in hibernation.

24. Vancouver (15-24-6) New coach, old problems.

25. Chicago (13-25-7) Where will Chelios go?

26. N.Y. Islanders (14-29-3) Now change the players.

27. Tampa Bay (11-30-4) All-Stars left town.

GAME OF THE WEEK

PHOENIX COYOTES at BUFFALO SABRES

When--Tonight. Time--4 p.m. PDT.

* Story line--Both defenses know they can be aggressive, because they have goaltenders to erase errors in Buffalo’s Dominik Hasek, merely the best in the world, and Phoenix’s Nikolai Khabibulin, who with a 1.92 goals-against average isn’t far behind. The Sabres are deadly at home, with a 12-5-2 record, and are entertaining a Phoenix team that started 14-2-2, then came back to earth when it had to go on the road.