TOP TEAM STRUGGLE AS PLAYOFFS APPROACH

And the once seemingly unbeatable San Jose Sharks and their 2-5-1 slide are leading the way.

With just one month to the start of the quest for Lord Stanley's Cup, the teams that have dominated the standings for most of the year are doing their best Islander and Bolt impressions.

Detroit currently sits atop the Western Conference, having recently crawled over San Jose, but the Red Wings have gone 3-2-1 in their past six games. Twice they've given up eight goals, and Thursday the Red Wings blew a two-goal lead late in a shootout loss to Calgary. And while the return of Hossa and Holmstrom will certainly help, the Snowman still lurks.

After the Flames acquired Olli Jokinen at the trade deadline, fans immediately became drunk with Cup love. But one great line does not a champion make, and Calgary has flamed out of late, as Miikka Kiprusoff has given up an astounding 22 goals so far this month. The Flames win in Detroit broke a three-game losing streak.

And here come the Hawks and their mighty 3-5-1 mark in the past nine games, including last night's 5-3 home defeat at the hands of possible first round opponent Columbus. To be fair, the return of Havlat, Sharp (who has begun light skating) and Khabibulin will help, and newly acquired center Sammy Pahlsson has been skating with the team as he fights through new league sponsor Mono. But with the Blackhawks recent 3-3-1 showing at home, having 10 of their remaining 16 games scheduled at the UC doesn't look as promising as it once appeared to be.

Boston still leads the Eastern Conference race, but the Bruins have had their own problems of late. After holding a 14-point lead in the Eastern Conference standings on Feb. 7, the Boston has seen that lead shrink to just six points. The team has put together a 4-8-3 record over the stretch.

And Washington Capitals recently dropped four games in a row.

In all likelihood these teams should get healthy and shake off the bad. But if the playoffs were currently underway we would be in for a great ride. On Versus.