from Scott Burnside of ESPN,

Okay now that the Super Bowl (that was super?) is over, we can turn our full attention to the stretch run and the trade deadline, which is only three weeks away. I'm looking forward to Monday's Anaheim Ducks-Pittsburgh Penguins tilt in Pittsburgh, a homecoming for the Ducks' sterling still-rookie netminder.

These teams made an interesting swap recently, with the under-performing David Perron heading to Anaheim and Carl Hagelin becoming a Penguin after simply not fitting in with Bruce Boudreau's Ducks. Both have played well since, especially Perron, who has three goals and five assists in seven games as a Duck. Hagelin, playing often with Evgeni Malkin (who missed games on the weekend with injury) and Phil Kessel, has five assists in eight games. Bottom line, though, is both teams are thriving now after struggling through miserable first halves.

The Ducks have won six in a row and are a point behind San Jose for second place in the Pacific. The Pens, meanwhile, hold down the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and are on a 7-2-2 run, putting them just a point behind an up and down New York Islanders team who sit third in the Metropolitan Division.

So, are both these teams locks to make the playoffs now? Could both the Pens and Ducks significant playoff runs? What say you?

read on for more views on this topic fromt the ESPN hockey guys...