from Scott Burnside of ESPN,

Okay, we're long past waiting for the Colorado Avalanche to come back to Earth. Now the better question is just how good this team can be.

The Avs won their fourth in a row Monday night, nipping New Jersey 2-1 in overtime at The Rock in Newark. They have now won 13 of 17, and on Monday it was Jean-Sebastien Giguere getting a rare start and blocking 27 of 28 Devils shots to earn the win.

The Avs are just two points back of St. Louis in the Central, although the second-place Blues have a game in hand. More interesting, the Avs are just five back of first-place Chicago with three games in hand.

In short, let's not just assume Chicago and St. Louis are going to be battling for the top two spots in the division. In fact, the battle to avoid the other two teams sets up a pretty interesting race down the stretch.

more plus Custance on the Kings, LeBrun on the west coast games last night and Strang on the Canucks...