No team in the NHL has fewer regulation losses than the Wings, who have won three in a row and eight of 10. They're doing it with a quiet swagger, too, because you just don't hear much about them despite all of their winning. Maybe that's because we simply have come to expect greatness out of Hockeytown. Well, we're getting it -- Pavel Datsyuk has 5 points in the last two games and leads the team with 27 points. Henrik Zetterberg had 4 points in a 5-3 win against San Jose on Tuesday.

A five-game win streak has lifted the Stars into first place in the Pacific Division. Yup, it can happen that quickly in the NHL. Dallas' defense and goaltending has been outstanding lately. The Stars have yielded only six goals during their win streak, and in four games have held the opponent to just one. Only St. Louis lit the lamp twice.

The Canucks have scored 17 goals in their current three-game win streak, including 13 in the last two games. Mason Raymond had a hat trick in Wednesday's 7-2 win against Calgary. Twelve of their 18 skaters had at least one point in a 6-1 win against San Jose last Friday. The Canucks are healthy and they look good, but they head to Chicago on Friday and the United Center isn't their favorite building, to say the least.

Could the Blackhawks be coming around? They've won three in a row and four of their last five. They gave up five goals to St. Louis on Tuesday, including three in the third period, and still won by two. Their superstars -- notably Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp -- are flourishing. Sharp has goals in five straight games and three multi-point games in a row. Marty Turco will start in goal Friday after serving as Corey Crawford's backup the last three games.

The Jackets have lost three in a row after winning five straight to climb the standings. The Jackets' struggles have been at home, where they are 6-6-1; they're 8-2-0 on the road. R.J. Umberger has points in 10 straight games, which is a franchise record.

The Pacific Division is tight and the Coyotes' win Wednesday put them right back in the mix. It also snapped a two-game slide. Phoenix hosts Florida on Saturday and then has a big intra-division game against Anaheim on Sunday. Scottie Upshall has scored 4 goals in the last five games and leads the team with 8.

Is there a streakier team in the NHL? The Ducks bring a three-game win streak into Friday's game against Detroit. This comes on the heals of a six-game losing streak, which followed a six-game win streak. Got all that? They may be a streaky team, but they're on a good one now and that's important with the Wings in town. The top line of Bobby Ryan, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry has 7 goals and 8 assists over the last three games.

Things are so tightly packed in the conference that with just one win, a 4-0 throttling of Ottawa on Thursday, the Sharks jumped four places in the standings. It was the perfect way for the Sharks to open a five-game road trip. They'll play in Montreal on Saturday and then visit Detroit, Philadelphia and Buffalo next week.

The Kings were linked in rumors to a deal for Boston's Marco Sturm, but they're just looking anywhere to fight its way out of a funk. They gave themselves some life Thursday by scoring twice in the third period to come back and beat Florida 3-2. The win snapped a four-game losing streak in which the Kings were outscored 11-4. It also was L.A.'s first regulation win in nine games. The team is reportedly considering sending Brayden Schenn back to the WHL. He's just eight games, and none since Oct. 30.

Craig Anderson and Adam Foote will return to the lineup Friday; each has missed the last three games. Matt Duchene has goals in four straight games and five of the last six. It's his best stretch since he scored 5 goals in three games last season from Nov. 28-Dec. 2.

The Blues may wind up as the perfect case study for survival in an NHL season. Is there another team that has experienced more highs and lows in just 25 games? They score five against Chicago on Tuesday but lose. They give up two goals against Dallas last Saturday and still lose. They score just once in regulation against Nashville last Wednesday, yet they win in a shootout. Since winning seven in a row from Oct. 22-Nov. 7 they're 3-8-1, but no one would be shocked if they reeled off seven straight wins again.

Wednesday's win was big for the club because it showed resiliency. The Predators held a 2-1 lead after two periods, trailed by one 10 minutes into the third, but scored before the end of regulation and won in a shootout. Nashville hasn't allowed a power-play goal since giving up four to Toronto on Nov. 16. That's a span of eight games and 28 successful kills.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard returned to the lineup Wednesday for the first time since the 2009-10 season-opener. He looked good skating on the same line as Martin Havlat and Kyle Brodziak. The Wild have lost three in a row (14 goals allowed) and five of their last six. They've allowed 25 goals in those five losses.

The kids are coming around, the goaltending has been superb and the Oilers are movin' on up. They passed their provincial rivals with Thursday's 5-0 win in Toronto, which was their third in a row and fourth in five games. Nikolai Khabibulin, Martin Gerber and Devan Dubnyk all won games during three-game road trip to Eastern Canada. Taylor Hall has 8 goals in his last 18 games after failing to score in his first seven. He had his first two-goal game Thursday against the Leafs.

The Flames can't keep any momentum. They played well in New Jersey last week and then won in Philadelphia before losing in Pittsburgh. They came home and beat Minnesota, 3-0, but got pasted by the Canucks 7-2 on Wednesday. Coach Brent Sutter was not happy with how his team treated the third period. They were trailing 3-2 at the second intermission, but gave up four goals in the third, including two power-play goals one shorthanded. "That's unacceptable," Sutter said.