On paper, the Devils don’t appear to be particularly fearsome. But as we’ve learned in the past decade in watching these Devils, hockey games aren’t won on paper. A hockey team is an exercise in chemistry, and GM Lou Lamoriello has proven to be an absolute wizard when it comes to mixing the correct ingredients together.

For a shining example, one needs to look no further than New Jersey’s second forward line. Made up of rookie center Travis Zajac, sophomore winger Zach Parise, and veteran Jamie Langenbrunner, the line has been a key reason the Devils are soaring toward the top of the NHL standings. Last week, Langenbrunner was voted the NHL’s second star, after he tallied seven points in three games to lead New Jersey to a 2–0–1 record.

Zajac — whose name drew a collective “Who?” from the audience when the Devils called his name in the first round of the 2004 NHL Draft — has fit in perfectly, while Parise has avoided the sophomore jinx and improved his game dramatically. Neither Zajac nor Parise was projected to be much more than a quality second-liner when they were drafted, but given the aplomb with which they’re carrying themselves at this early stage in their young careers, it’s a good bet that the two forwards’ futures are incredibly bright.

This, of course, is typical for Lamoriello’s Devils, where the value each player brings to the group far exceeds what each can offer as an ndividual. It explains why some former Devils — like Bobby Holik and Petr Sykora — have never achieved the same success elsewhere that they enjoyed in New Jersey. The Devils are number five with a bullet this week as they find themselves only five points behind the Nashville Predators with a game in hand and tremendous upward momentum.

So here’s how the teams line up this week. Statistically, teams are measured from left to right by games played, W–L–OTL, standings points, goals scored, goals allowed, power play success, and penalty-killing success. Please note that the data are up to and including games played on Tuesday night, and that our statistics for special teams’ effectiveness also take shorthanded goals into account. Each team’s ranking from last week appears in parentheses.

1 NASHVILLE PREDATORS (1): The Predators are hoping that defenseman Shea Weber (sore jaw) won’t be out for long. Perhaps their most important blueliner, Weber suffered the injury during a fight with the Ducks’ Travis Moen.
|55 37–15–3 77 191 140 16.6%89.2%

2 BUFFALO SABRES (2): With 15 points in his last nine games, Daniel Briere’s the unequivocal leader of the Sabres’ offense. But it’s goaltender Ryan Miller who’s made the difference for Buffalo as the Sabres have taken a stranglehold on the Northeast.

55 36–15–4 76 206 159 14.5%83.9%

3 DETROIT RED WINGS (4): The Red Wings might be old, and they might be lacking the star power of yore, but as long as perennial Norris Trophy candidate Nicklas Lidstrom is patrolling their blue line, they will be a strong Cup contender. He’s that good…
54 34–14–6 74 166 130 14.5% 86.1%

4 ANAHEIM DUCKS (3): Goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere has posted a tremendous 26–5–6 record thus far and looks to be fully recovered from his groin injury. If he keeps up his stellar play, he is in for a huge payday this summer as an unrestricted free agent.
54 33–13–8 74 180 139 20.8%86.3%

5 NEW JERSEY DEVILS (6): Since December 22, captain Patrik Elias has completely turned his season around, tallying 23 points and a plus-12 rating in 22 games. Though Martin Brodeur is clearly the Devils’ anchor, Elias’s productivity is critical to the team’s success.
54 33–15–6 72 146 129 14.6% 85.1%

6 SAN JOSE SHARKS (5): After getting off to a white-hot start, winger Milan Michalek has cooled off considerably, tallying only 10 points and a minus-eight rating in his last 22 games.
54 34–19–1 69 167 130 22.4%86.4%

7 CALGARY FLAMES (9): Kristian Huselius is currently riding a sensational 13-game point-scoring streak during which he has collected 19 points. Finally providing Miikka Kiprusoff with legitimate goal support, the Flames are a bona fide Cup contender.
53 29–17–7 65 167 136 15.3%83.9%

8 DALLAS STARS (8): Captain Brenden Morrow (wrist surgery) has missed 26 games already, and isn’t expected to return until late March. But the Stars somehow manage to keep on winning and remain within striking distance of the division-leading Ducks.
54 32–20–2 66 144 132 16.5%84.6%

9 ATLANTA THRASHERS (7): Thirty-two-year-old center Glen Metropolit is improbably having a breakout season for the Thrashers, compiling an impressive plus-11 rating with 26 points in 50 games, and he just might surpass his previous career totals this season.
56 29–18–9 67 172 174 13.2%80.4%

10 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (13): With a 9–0–2 record in their last 11 games, the Pens are the NHL’s hottest team. With their 4–1 victory over the top-ranked Predators on Tuesday night, they’ve demonstrated that they can compete with the NHL’s finest teams.
53 27–17–9 63 179 162 17.3% 83.4%

11 VANCOUVER CANUCKS (11): When Daniel and Henrik Sedin scored nine points in the Canucks’ 5–2 win over Edmonton on Tuesday night, it was the most by two brothers in a single NHL game since the Islanders’ Brent and Duane Sutter did the same back in 1986.
54 30–20–4 64 144 138 15.5%89.5%

12 OTTAWA SENATORS (12): Back on November 9, the Sens’ power play effectiveness was a measly 2.7%. That has improved so dramatically in the past three months is a huge reason why they’ve reemerged as legitimate Cup contenders.
54 30–21–3 63 180 147 13.4%88.3%

13 MONTREAL CANADIENS (10): Forward Sergei Samsonov has had a miserable time in Montreal and has asked to be traded. It will be interesting to see what the Habs get in return for the enigmatic Russian, whose talent far exceeds his productivity.
55 29–20–6 64 161 159 21.1% 89.2%

14 TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (18): Although he will never be “hockey’s Michael Jordan” — as he was proclaimed by then-Lightning owner Art Williams on his draft day in 1997 — NHL goal-scoring leader Vincent Lecavalier has finally arrived as a top-tier star.
55 30–23–2 62 175 167 16.2%80.9%

15 MINNESOTA WILD (14): Starting goaltender Manny Fernandez is out with a sprained MCL, but Niklas Backstrom has stepped up in his stead with a stellar performance (2.07 GAA, .928 SV%).
55 29–22–4 62 153 141 13.7%88.0%

16 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (19): The Eastern Conference playoff race will likely come down to goaltending, and right now there isn’t a hotter netminder in the league than Andrew Raycroft, who is 5–0 in his last five starts with a brilliant .959 save percentage.
54 27–21–6 60 174 174 17.2% 80.1%

17 CAROLINA HURRICANES (15): Defenseman Frantisek Kaberle returned to the lineup after missing 55 games following offseason shoulder surgery, and tallied the game-winning goal in the ‘Canes’ 2–1 victory over the Canadiens on Tuesday night.
56 27–22–7 61 168 177 14.0% 85.7%

18 NEW YORK ISLANDERS (21): The Isles remain right in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race, but now they’re going to have to do without the services of defenseman Radek Martinek (broken leg) for 4–6 weeks.
53 25–21–7 57 159 154 14.3%82.8%

19 COLORADO AVALANCHE (16): Tonight against the Thrashers, hard-working rearguard Karlis Skrastins is poised to break Tim Horton’s record of 486 consecutive games played by a defenseman, and he thoroughly deserves this moment in the spotlight.
53 26–23–4 56 167 159 16.4%82.4%

20 EDMONTON OILERS (20): While Chris Pronger’s departure obviously left a huge hole on the Oilers’ blue line, it’s clear that they’re also missing character forward Georges Laraque (now with Phoenix).
54 26–24–4 56 149 160 14.0% 88.1%

21 NEW YORK RANGERS (17): The Rangers are reeling, and GM Glen Sather must soon decide whether his team will be “buyers” or “sellers” at the deadline. It’s a tough call indeed, especially considering the team’s lofty preseason expectations.
54 25–24–5 55 156 161 17.6% 85.1%

22 BOSTON BRUINS (22): They were expected to be key contributors again, but last year’s top line (Patrice Bergeron, Brad Boyes, and Marco Sturm) has been a huge disappointment, compiling an atrocious combined minus-57 rating.
52 24–24–4 52 147 194 14.3%83.4%

23 PHOENIX COYOTES (24): A full 10 points behind eighth-place Minnesota, the Coyotes’ playoff hopes have been all but dashed. And with the possible exception of captain Shane Doan, all of their UFAs-to-be are likely to be on the trading block this month.
54 25–27–2 52 147 180 10.6%80.7%

24 WASHINGTON CAPITALS (23): The young Capitals don’t have much selling to do, but forward Richard Zednik will probably be made available as the deadline approaches.
55 22–25–8 52 167 192 14.1% 85.0%

25 FLORIDA PANTHERS (26): The Panthers have fallen out of the playoff hunt and are once again set to retool. Would they consider sending restricted free agent-to-be Jay Bouwmeester to the Rangers for a package including Alvaro Montoya?
55 20–24–11 51 157 181 17.6%84.0%

26 ST. LOUIS BLUES (25): The Blues’ surge has slowed, and the club has announced substantial price cuts for 2007-08 season tickets. But a fire sale is somewhat unlikely, for the Blues are battling to regain the love of their still-disillusioned fan base.
54 21–25–8 50 136 166 11.5% 84.2%

27 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (28): It’s been a season to forget for the ‘Hawks, but the inspired play of Martin Havlat and the pending arrival of top prospect Jonathan Toews bodes well for the team’s future.
53 20-26-7 47 132 164 9.8% 85.6%

28 COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (27): Forward Nikolai Zherdev has been sidelined since February 2 with flu-like symptoms, but that could be a euphemism for “healthy scratch,” given the team’s dissatisfaction with his play.
54 21–28–5 47 133 169 14.1% 82.8%

29 LOS ANGELES KINGS (29): The trades of Craig Conroy and Sean Avery are just the start of what will likely be a considerable rebuilding effort implemented by first-year GM Dean Lombardi.
56 18–30–8 44 156 198 15.4% 79.3%

30 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (30): With Peter Forsberg’s health still in doubt and Sami Kapanen negotiating a contract extension, the hapless Flyers don’t have much of value to move as the February 27 trade deadline approaches.
52 13–32–7 33 130 197 10.7% 88.3%

Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.