FanHouse Peter Mannino

In this week's power rankings, the New Jersey Devils remain one of the hottest teams in the NHL, holding off the Detroit Red Wings for the top spot thanks to an historic week for goaltender Martin Brodeur.

Vancouver makes a big jump, while the Montreal Canadiens continue to fade at the absolute worst time of the season.

Blues 5, Wild 3: Thanks to their 5-3 win over Minnesota on Sunday, the St. Louis Blues find themselves within one point of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with just 13 games to play. The Blues managed to hold off a late Minnesota rally, as Brad Boyes sealed the win with an empty net goal in the closing minute.

Sunday's win comes less than 24 hours after the Blues suffered a loss to Detroit in a game that featured three Red Wings goals in just 46 seconds. The Blues have been on a roll in recent weeks, winning 10 of their past 15 games to stay in the playoff hunt.

Also inside Monday's edition of newsmakers: the Islanders continue their strong play by upsetting Chicago, the Blue Jackets have their winning streak snapped, and the Los Angeles Kings demonstrate just how easy it is to screw up a two-on-none breakaway.

The bad news continues to pour in for the New York Islanders on Thursday, as Greg Logan reports the team has signed goaltender Wade Dubielewicz to a one-year, $500,000 deal. Such a move would likely indicate Rick DiPietro, out for much of the season with a knee injury, will be shut down for the remainder of the season.

The Islanders goaltending situation is a mess right now, as DiPietro's absence, combined with the recent injury to Joey MacDonald, leaves New York with Yann Danis and Peter Mannino as its options in net for Thursday night's game against the top team in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins. Good luck, gentlemen, you'll need it.

There was a time when Dallas Stars goalie Marty Turco was among the best in the National Hockey League. It appears as if those days are over, at least for this year, as the 33-year old netminder was lifted for the third time this season, after giving up five goals on just 19 shots Friday night. In the end, the Stars fell to the runaway locomotive that is the San Jose Sharks, 6-2.

Honestly, San Jose may never lose again, as it now has a league-best 39 points.

Turco's save percentage is just about ready to drop below the .870 mark, which is pretty hard to comprehend for an NHL goalie, and Stars head coach Dave Tippett sort of agrees, saying "our goaltender has to be better." Indeed he does. And while he wouldn't announce anything after the game, Tippett left open the possibility that Tobias Stephan could start Sunday's game against Edmonton. I guess the question is: could he really be any worse?

San Jose received a pair of goals from Dan Boyle, while Joe Pavelski, Milan Michalek and Rob Blake slipped shots behind the struggling Turco before he was lifted following the second period.

Evgeni Nabokov, making his second start since returning to the lineup, turned aside 25 of 27 shots in the win.