Winners of 6 straight games, the LA Kings are the hottest team in hockey having not lost yet in December. During this dominant stretch, they have averaged 3.8 goals per game while their surprising third string goaltender, Martin Jones has caught fire in the absence of Johnathan Quick and has yet to loose a single one of the 5 games he has started.
To sum up the LA Kings are the 3rd best team in all of hockey and are on pace to finish the season the contenders that they have been for 3 straight seasons now.
2) Anaheim Ducks
To be a top team in the NHL, you must prove yourself against other top teams.
The Anaheim Ducks did just that this week winning games against the Blackhawks and Blues on consecutive nights. At last look, the Ducks are just 2 points behind the Blackhawks for the league lead and are among just 7 teams in the league who have scored 100 goals this season. Furthermore, the Ducks like the Kings are enjoying the benefits of a consistent goal-tending squad as Victor Fasth remains a strong presence between the pipes complementing the starting stuff of Jonas Hiller.
3) Boston Bruins
Now granted it has been hard for NHL fans to celebrate the Bruins following last Saturday's incident between Shawn Thornton and Brooks Orpik and yet Boston have been dominant for almost a full month now winning 14 of their last 18 games. They have however enjoyed a rather easy schedule in aspects involving both lack of talent in their opponents as well as long breaks in between games (they have had to play just 2 back to back games during this stretch) and for that reason they are not any higher on this list.
Looking ahead, Boston's schedule will not get any tougher as none of the remaining December opponents are currently in the playoff picture.
4) Vancover Chanuks
The Chanuks have been on fire of late having won 7 in a row. However their far from lofty posture at 8th in the league has them much lower on this list than their last few games would have you think.
5) Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks are the best team in hockey but have not shown the kind of explosive capability of other top teams having gone 6-3-1 in their last 10 games.
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32) Buffalo Sabers
The Sabers have won fewer games all season than the Chanuks have in their last 10 games.
After the Thomas Vanak trade a few weeks back the Buffalo Sabers have gotten even worse. They are the worst team in hockey and frankly they do not even have a GM in place. Buffalo needs leadership and at this point they do not even have a hope of getting it any time soon.
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