THE TIMES’ RANKING: top to BOTTOM

Team (Record): Comment (Last week’s rank)

1. Dallas (33-11-8): Stars take two from Colorado.

2. New Jersey (31-15-4): Boring but successful.

3. Pittsburgh (27-15-9): Constantine works miracles.

4. Detroit (29-13-10): Red Wings still own the Flyers.

5. Colorado (25-12-16): Too good to be in 1-3-1 slump.

6. Philadelphia (28-12-9): Beat everyone but Detroit.

7. Washington (25-17-9): Lone bright note in D.C.

8. St. Louis (26-20-7): Hull to the rescue any day.

9. Montreal (26-18-7): Sliding a bit defensively.

10. Kings (21-19-9): Impressive in 4-0-1 streak.

11. Phoenix (23-20-8): Coyotes keep wasting talent.

12. Boston (21-19-9): Scored five in losing last three.

13. Chicago (20-21-9): Nabokov, Zhamnov awaken.

14. Ottawa (21-22-8): Offense stalls in 2-2-3 skid.

15. Edmonton (18-24-9): Oilers 7-2 with Guerin.

16. Buffalo (19-21-8): Hasek keeps them afloat. 17.

N.Y. Rangers (16-21-14): Sunk without LaFontaine.

18. Ducks (17-25-9): Kariya, Selanne take command.

19. San Jose (18-24-7): Rookie Marleau a real find.

20. Toronto (17-25-7): Potvin of old in goal.

21. Carolina (19-26-6): McLean stands tall in net.

22. Florida (15-25-11): Panthers 0-5-5 and counting.

23. Calgary (13-28-10): They find ways to lose.

24. N.Y. Islanders (16-28-7): Bowness’ days numbered.

25. Vancouver (12-31-8): Keenan gets to run a lousy show.

26. Tampa Bay (9-33-8): See last week’s insult.

GAME OF THE WEEK

CHICAGO AT MIGHTY DUCKS

* When--Sunday. * Time--5 p.m. TV--Channel 9.

* Storyline--The last time the teams met, Dec. 28 at Chicago, defenseman Chris Chelios constantly roughed up Duck left wing Paul Kariya and took him out of the game. The Ducks had no response for Chelios or the Blackhawks in a 2-0 loss. Will Kariya’s teammates stand up for him this time? He’s only their meal ticket. With 14 goals in 18 games, he’s on pace to score 39--a pace that would have brought him 64 goals if he hadn’t missed 32 games during a contract dispute. The Blackhawks have rebounded from an 0-7 start and can reach .500 for the first time. Eric Daze, with 19 goals, leads a revitalized offense.