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The last goaltender to rack up a dozen consecutive victories in a single season will be be a first-ballot, no-brainer Hall of Famer. New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur accomplished the feat 16 years ago, from Oct. 23 through Nov. 20, 1997.
That is the special type of shooting-star run Anaheim’s Jonas Hiller is currently enjoying, and he’ll try to make it a baker’s dozen later this week.
It’s been that kind of season for the Ducks, who might be tempted to add the “Mighty” back to their official name if this keeps up.
We’re now ankle-deep into January, and the Ducks have yet to lose in regulation at home; Boudreau’s Bunch improved to 18-0-2 at Honda Center Tuesday after a decisive victory over Eastern power Boston. They’re not too shabby on the road, either. In the last month and a half, they’ve dropped just two games in regulation, period.
One more impressive Ducks factoid: Not since Nov. 23′s defeat to Dallas has Anaheim lost to a team based outside of California.
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Anaheim is the league’s best team on the league’s best tear. The Ducks have won 14 of their past 15, lead the NHL with 69 points, and their 32-8-5 record marks the best 45-game stretch in franchise history. Plus, Jonas Hiller is enjoying a personal-best 12-game winning streak.
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2
Not only has St. Louis won six straight and earned points in nine straight, the Blues have at least three games in hand over the Ducks and Hawks — the only two clubs ahead of them in the standings.
7
3
Regular-season darlings, the Pittsburgh machine continues to roll. Home or road, opponents form the East or West — doesn’t matter. The Pens consistently win. Only three regulation losses since Nov. 23. And, if you hadn’t heard, Chris Kunitz made the cut.
3
4
The team with the best offence in the NHL is sending a whopping 10 players overseas for the Olympics. Plenty of talent to go around here, but it’ll be interesting to see if they fly back to Illinois tired.
1
5
The Sharks suffered some personal setbacks this week. Joe Thornton, Dan Boyle and Logan Couture all missed out on Team Canada’s roster. Couture is out 3-4 weeks with a hand injury. And a bad goal cost them a game against the Predators.
6
6
The biggest test, Power Rankings-wise, for the Bruins takes place this week: a road trip through California. So far, not so good, as the B’s lost 5-2 to the mighty Ducks.
5
7
With points against the Wild and Canucks, the Kings finally stopped the bleeding of a season-worst five-game losing skid.
4
8
Matt Duchene has played so well, he’ll be the youngest player on Team Canada. In Sochi, he’ll face his captain, Gabriel Landeskog, who will be representing Sweden. A big win over the Sharks this week helps balance coach Patrick Roy’s calling out of J.S. Giguere.
9
9
Led by Marty St. Louis, who did everything he could to make Team Canada yet still got left out, Tampa Bay is an incredible 8-2-1 since Dec. 15. Wait till Stamkos gets back… which could be only a few weeks from now.
11
10
The Habs got great and horrible news this week. “Bubble player” P.K. Subban made the Canadian national team after all, but forward Alex Galchenyuk is out weeks with a broken hand.
10
11
An injury to Roberto Luongo only exacerbates the Canucks’ woes. Vancouver is mired in a five-game losing skid, and Henrik Sedin is playing through an injury that prevents him from taking face-offs.
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12
Captain Shane Doan has returned from his rare illness, giving Phoenix a boost. Also boosted: goaltender Mike Smith’s confidence. Smith becomes the second Olympian in his marriage, as wife Brigitte is a two-time Olympic skier.
14
13
Remember when captain Claude Giroux couldn’t score a goal to save his life and the Flyers’ GM was on the hot seat? Now Philly has won six of seven and sits in playoff position thanks to a soft Metropolitan Division and a comeback season by Steve Mason.
23
14
Recovering from a season-worst six-game slump over the holidays, Minnesota has ripped off three straight W’s, including a close one in L.A.
12
15
Jamie Benn has played so well, he became just one of two Team Canada members to make the cut despite not being invited to orientation camp. But Dallas has surrendered a whopping 18 goals in its last three contests — something that won’t help them snag a wild-card spot.
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16
The Leafs have yet to win indoors in 2014, Carl Gunnarsson and David Clarkson are banged up, and their new No. 1 goaltender is showing cracks under the weight of anointment. This will be a battle to the end.
17
17
After stinking it up on 24/7, the Red Wings get away from the madness, the city and the cameras. Detroit’s road trip got off to a great start with a 5-1 smashing of the Stars.
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18
Who cares if they’re close? A win’s a win. And Carolina has four one-goal victories in a row. Better still: Until they face St. Louis on Jan. 31, all of the Hurricanes opponents are definitely beatable.
19
19
Thanks to an offence that is scoring three or four times a game, the Sens are in the midst of a season-best four-game winning streak and now find themselves in that big cluster of wild-card candidates.
21
20
Since Dec. 12, the Rangers’ ship has steadied, thanks to youngsters Chris Kreider and Cam Talbot. Usual stars Henrik Lundqvist and Rick Nash, however, need to shake a bit of rust off their game before heading to Sochi.
22
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Washington has cooled off considerably and suddenly becomes an interesting team to watch at the deadline. Fun fact: Nicklas Backstrom has quietly passed Alex Ovechkin as the club’s top point-getter.
13
22
Since Christmas, Nashville has hung around the pack by earning points against tough teams like San Jose, L.A., Boston and Detroit. Credit coach Barry Trotz for getting these guys to compete every night.
18
23
The Jackets took two of four on a tough road swing, and defending Vezina champ Sergei Bobrovsky is healthy again.
25
24
Jaromir Jagr tied Mario Lemieux on the all-time scoring race, but milestones might be only thing to celebrate in Jersey, where the Devils’ most recent losses have come at the hands of Philly and Buffalo.
24
25
It only took three months, but the Islanders are starting to look like that competitive group that rallied to make the 2013 playoffs. John Tavares is a monster, but it’s the consistently dangerous Kyle Okposo — passed over by Team USA — that has been a revelation.
29
26
The Jets are mired in their second four-game losing skid of the season and have the fourth-worst road record in the NHL.
20
27
Rookie Aleksander Barkov should give Chris Kreider and Nathan MacKinnon a run for their Calder money. The freshman leads a ragtag Florida group with 22 points and is a minus-2 player on a minus-34 team.
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28
How bad are things in Calgary? Curtis Glencross is on the IR, leading scorer Jiri Hudler was just snubbed from the Czech national team, and they still haven’t found a GM. Brian Burke is open for business, but Bobby Ryan won’t take his calls.
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29
Believe it or not, since Dec. 17 the Sabres have played better than .500 hockey. And word is, they might try to keep pending UFA Ryan Miller after all. Yes, they’re last in the NHL, but they have four games in hand over the Oilers.
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30
Edmonton has lost five of six, and a slow start has dragged into another slow season. Expect some deadline dealing here as the Oilers’ first-round pick should be a high one.
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