The Flame-outs are becoming exactly that. With tonight's dumping by the cellar-dwelling Ducks, Calgary has lost four straight games. Whereas the Avs sweatted their fiery competitor's two games in hand, now Colorado is accumulating those trump cards.

Flames Head coach Sutter gave his team a tongue-lashing after their 1-0 loss to Nashville Friday. They responded well in the early minutes of the first period and took the lead with Jokinen's backhander. But that's where the effort ended and the discipline disintegrated. Just over a minute-and-a-half later, with Giordano taking a tripping time-out, Sexton redirected a Getzlaf shot past McElhinney.

Two more unanswered goals later the Ducks lead 3-1 until Lundmark managed to blast one past Hiller in the waning seconds of the first.

An energized Calgary club came back in the second determined to win this one any way they could. Eight shots and two goals later, The flames rode a 4-3 lead into the third period.

But the story has a happy ending, Avs fans! The Ducks came out energized in the third. Cory Perry and Bobby Ryan added tallies to the Anaheim side of the scoreboard.

Meanwhile, the Flames appeared to take a page from Colorado's playbook and tried to coast with their lead through the final period. In spite of a flurry of late, desperation shots, Hiller stood solid.

Thanks, Anaheim! The Avalanche reign in the NW Division with a game in hand over Calgary.

And especially, thanks to Anderson and the Avs for putting away the former Rockies (the previous incarnation of the NJ Devils) Saturday night!

GO AVS!

Taking a look at the conference standings after last night remarkable rearrangement, I was struck at how much more competitive is the NHL West compared to the East.

As of midnight mountain time, December 18th, the top eight teams in the West stacked up like so:

                                                      Team                                GP   W    Pts

Only six points separate the conference leading Sharks from the DeadWings. And, only THREE POINTS differentiates the #1 and #7 positions! Talk about competitive! No wonder the standings are volatile.

Meanwhile, the East looks more settled:

                                                      Team                                GP   W    Pts

This time the leading Pens outdistance the Pans by a full fourteen points, and lead the 6th and 7th positions by eleven points. Just to put this into perspective, Pittsburgh has two weeks worth of wins more than the club in the last playoff position.

But, wait, it gets better! Let's look at the bottom half of the two conferences.

First, the West:

                                                      Team                                GP   W    Pts

Once again, with only six points, a cellar dweller becomes a bubble team.

But in the East:

                                                      Team                                GP   W    Pts

The Canes have a lot of catching up to do. Again, about two weeks worth of wins!

If only the Ducks played in the Eastern Conference, they'd be on the cusp of a playoff spot instead of sinking to last place.

Only Pittsburgh, Washington, and New Jersey would qualify for playoff spots in the Western Conference. All the other eastern teams are merely mediocre by comparison.

Go Avs!

Canada's Sun Media lists the Vegas odds for the coming NHL season. The Av's get 75/1 odds to win the Cup this time around. Atlanta gets 50/1 and Florida supposedly warrants 30/1! What's up with that?

TEAM ODDS

Detroit Red Wings 6/1

Pittsburgh Penguins 7/1

Boston Bruins 9/1

San Jose Sharks 10/1

Washington Capitals 10/1

Chicago Blackhawks 12/1

Vancouver Canucks 15/1

Philadelphia Flyers 15/1

New Jersey Devils 15/1

Calgary Flames 18/1

Carolina Hurricanes 20/1

Montreal Canadiens 20/1

Anaheim Ducks 25/1

N.Y. Rangers 25/1

St. Louis Blues 30/1

Buffalo Sabres 30/1

Florida Panthers 30/1

Columbus Blue Jackets 35/1

Dallas Stars 35/1

Ottawa Senators 35/1

Minnesota Wild 40/1

Nashville Predators 40/1

Edmonton Oilers 50/1

Atlanta Thrashers 50/1

Los Angeles Kings 60/1

Toronto Maple Leafs 60/1

Phoenix Coyotes 75/1

Colorado Avalanche 75/1

N.Y. Islanders 100/1

Tampa Bay Lightning 100/1