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Just when you thought they were about to fade into oblivion, the Calgary Flames are standing up and making people pay attention to them. Having changed general managers, replacing Darryl Sutter with Jay Feaster, and having dumped veterans Craig Conroy and Ales Kotalik, the Flames find themselves riding a four-game winning streak to sit just two points out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Of course they still have 31 games remaining and they need to leapfrog three teams ahead of them for the No. 8 seed, but at least the Flames have made things interesting.
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| TW | LW | Team | Our Take |
| 1 | 1 | 
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Jeff Carter fires two goals and Sergei Bobrovsky makes 30 saves as the Flyers beat the Blackhawks 4-1 in a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup Final for the second win in a row. |
| 2 | 2 | 
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Injuries continue to eat away at the Canucks who lose defenceman Alex Edler with a back problem that requires surgery. |
| 3 | 3 | 
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The Lightning has tightened its belt defensively in ringing up five straight victories. |
| 4 | 7 | 
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Make that seven seasons of 20 or more goals for captain and leader Brenden Morrow. |
| 5 | 5 | 
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Good news: Sidney Crosby has been given the green light to resume light workouts. |
| 6 | 6 | 
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With a number of stars (Datsyuk, Cleary, Holmstrom, Modano) injured, some of the Red Wings lesser lights step up and make an impact as Detroit goes 6-3-1 in its last 10 games. |
| 7 | 7 | 
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Goaltender Tim Thomas continues to be one of the great stories of the year leading all stoppers in save percentage, goals-against average and shutouts. |
| 8 | 9 | 
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The Preds were on a nice little roll with three straight road victories until they lost in Calgary and Vancouver. |
| 9 | 8 | 
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After scoring a hat trick against Toronto and running his points streak to three games, Alex Ovechkin is held pointless in his next two games. |
| 10 | 12 | 
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With 43 points in 51 games, defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky is on pace for 68 points. |
| 11 | 10 | 
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The Canadiens manage just four shots on seven power play opportunities while getting soundly defeated by the Philadelphia Flyers in the last game before the break. |
| 12 | 11 | 
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Marian Gaborik is identified by his peers as the best and fastest skater in the NHL, but he’ll need to be more engaged following the all-star break if his team is to kick it back into gear. |
| 13 | 13 | 
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The Coyotes drop a 4-3 decision to Edmonton, but bounce back with their fifth straight road win against Colorado. |
| 14 | 15 | 
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The defending champions dropped a pair heading into the break and while they are 6-3-1 in their last 10, they aren’t convincing anybody at this stage a repeat is in the cards. |
| 15 | 17 | 
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After going pointless in three games, Martin Havlat revs it up with six points in his next five starts. |
| 16 | 14 | 
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Try as they might, the Sharks really haven’t given much indication of becoming a force in the Western Conference. You get the impression GM Doug Wilson is going to have to do something dramatic at the trade deadline to get the attention of his star-studded lineup. |
| 17 | 16 | 
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Budding superstar Matt Duchene records his 20th goal of the season and 100th career point in a loss to Phoenix. |
| 18 | 19 | 
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Congratulations to the Hurricanes and their fans for hosting a fabulous All-Star Game weekend. |
| 19 | 18 | 
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A 1-0 win over the Capitals prior to the all-star break gives Atlanta a convincing 4-1-1 record over Washington. |
| 20 | 21 | 
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Anze Kopitar didn’t look out of place amongst the game’s best players scoring two goals in Raleigh, but can he do it when the chips are down in the NHL playoffs? |
| 21 | 23 | 
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Miikka Kiprusoff is finding his game just in time to push the Flames back into playoff contention. |
| 22 | 24 | 
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It is looking very much like the Sabres will have a new owner within the next week or two. |
| 23 | 20 | 
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The Blue Jackets have won three of their last six games, but playing at a .500 clip won’t get them to the playoffs. |
| 24 | 22 | 
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With four straight losses, the Blues aren’t in danger of plummeting to last in the West, thanks to the Oilers, but a 14th place finish could be in the cards. |
| 25 | 26 | 
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The Panthers played in their league-high 27th one-goal game in losing 2-1 to Boston before the break. |
| 26 | 25 | 
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Toronto’s all-star rep Phil Kessel is goalless in his last seven games. |
| 27 | 27 | 
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The owner says the coach and GM are staying put; so you have to wonder how much swing room Bryan Murray has in trying to makeover the team. |
| 28 | 30 | 
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A 3-1 loss to the Stars leaves the Oilers 0-7-1 in their last eight visits to Dallas. |
| 29 | 29 | 
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With 10 points in his last eight games, veteran Patrik Elias has had a big hand in the Devils sudden good play. |
| 30 | 28 | 
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In a season where the losses greatly outweigh the wins, a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Penguins is almost like a moral victory. |
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