Marian Hossa is back, and so are the Chicago Blackhawks atop the Super 16 power rankings.

Chicago is 2-0-1 with arguably their best overall forward back from an upper-body injury and the Blackhawks' 5-3 win against the Nashville Predators on Sunday clinched them a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Montreal Canadiens are the class of the East, as they continued their recent mastery of the Boston Bruins with a 2-1 victory Saturday, the Habs' third straight win against Boston this season.

How did the rest of the list shake out? Let's look:

LAKEWOOD, Calif. -- Irony surrounded Justin Schultz when he stepped outside a local practice rink to talk to reporters.

The facility is owned and operated by the Anaheim Ducks, and their webbed-D logo is evident. As Schultz talked, his Edmonton Oilers equipment bag was being loaded into a truck adorned with that Ducks logo, headed toward Honda Center.

That's where Schultz will be public enemy No. 1 Monday, when he plays in Anaheim for the first time since he spurned the Ducks -- the team that drafted him with the 43rd pick of the 2008 NHL Draft -- and signed with Edmonton this past summer. Schultz almost chuckled and was coy when asked what reception he'll receive.

"I don't know," he said. "We'll see when game time comes. Whatever happens, it is what it is."

Having it come this late in the season might make it easier because he's played in opposing NHL buildings for months now. Schultz heard it in the American Hockey League when his Oklahoma City Barons played at Abbotsford, the affiliate of the rival Calgary Flames.

Twenty days remain in the 2012-13 NHL season and so much is still up in the air.

The final quarter of the season is here, which means the sprint to the Stanley Cup Playoffs is on. The field is full; only a handful of teams can say they don't have a chance.

But how will it end? Which teams will cross the finish line knowing there are more games to play in May? Who will we be talking about once it's all said and done?

Here are 14 people who will shape the final weeks of the regular season:

Alex Ovechkin's slow start this season left many people wondering if he'd ever return to the form that made him a terror to goaltenders in his first five NHL seasons. Ovi's performance last week more than erased any doubts.

Alex Ovechkin scored seven goals in four games last week, giving him 15 in the Capitals' past 12 games and moving him into a tie for the Rocket Richard lead with Steven Stamkos. (Photo: Len Redkoles/NHLI)

Ovechkin had just two goals in the Washington Capitals' first 10 games, and he scored just 10 times in their first 24, Since then, he's been on fire -- and he took his offensive game to another level last week by scoring seven times and adding two assists as the Capitals swept four games to move into first place in the Southeast Division.

He was especially potent during the Capitals' weekend sweep of the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning, scoring five goals in the two games -- enough to move him into a tie with Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos for the League lead in goals with 25. That includes 15 goals in Washington's past 12 games.

Five up -- Five other players who had a good week:

Nicklas Backstrom -- Goal-scorers need someone to get them the puck -- and in the case of Ovechkin and his big week, that person was Backstrom. He didn't score a goal last week but set up nine of them and is now third in the NHL with 34 assists.

TORONTO -- The local reaction to Nazem Kadri's breakout NHL season for the Toronto Maple Leafs has varied, ranging from, "What took you so long?" to "Wow, I thought you'd have to be traded to finally make it here."

The reality, though, is after a few false starts, the 22-year-old is proving beyond any reasonable doubt he belongs in the NHL. Entering their game Monday against the New York Rangers, Kadri leads the Maple Leafs with 17 goals, and his team-best 39 points place him 11th in the League. There have been times in the past few weeks when he has been comfortably inside the top 10, and it wouldn't be a stretch to suggest he ultimately will finish there.

Not bad for someone who, only a few months ago, was a healthy scratch with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. While Kadri has not yet earned the role of No. 1 center on a team trying to make it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2004 -- that spot belongs to Tyler Bozak, who skates between Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk -- he has become a main cog in Toronto's blossoming offense. When Kadri and left wing Joffrey Lupul are in the lineup together, they have shown signs of becoming a dynamic duo.

"He has always had the potential and skill to be a phenomenal player, but I am a little surprised because he seems to have exceeded everyone's expectations … perhaps even his own," said Maple Leafs defenseman Mark Fraser, who played with Kadri on the Marlies last season and again during the NHL lockout this season. "I have no doubt that he believed he could do this in the NHL, but to do it in your first full season is pretty impressive."

The New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets have become intertwined over the past 10 months, having made two blockbuster trades that have resulted in eight NHL players changing sides.

With the 2012-13 season winding down, the Rangers and Blue Jackets have something else in common -- they are the homes to the League's two best goaltenders, New York's Henrik Lundqvist and Columbus' Sergei Bobrovsky.

But as we hit the three-quarter mark of the schedule, it's Bobrovsky who has earned NHL.com's nod for the Vezina Trophy.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Sunday that forward Dany Heatley will have arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder.

The procedure reportedly will be performed in Cleveland.

Heatley dislocated the shoulder when he was driven to the ice during an altercation with the San Jose Sharks' Marc-Edouard Vlasic during a game April 3.

The newspaper reports that the Wild hope surgery will speed up Heatley's return date, with the hope he's able to make it back prior to the end of the regular season.

Heatley has 11 goals and 10 assists in 36 games this season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins clinched a berth in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sunday night when the New Jersey Devils lost to the Buffalo Sabres in a shootout.

The Penguins (29-10-0) lead the Eastern Conference by three points over the Montreal Canadiens.

Pittsburgh won 15 games in a row from March 2 to March 30, the first perfect month of at least 10 games in League history.

DETROIT -- The St. Louis Blues understand it's a new season, but getting back their game that was so successful a season ago would bode well for a team trying to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season.

That means winning tough, gritty and sometimes even ugly games -- but with plenty of character.

Count Sunday's 1-0 victory against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena as one of those tough, gritty, character wins.

Of the Blues' 49 victories in 2011-12, many were of this variety.

"It's not always pretty," said Blues left wing Chris Porter, who had the goal Sunday. "We would like to play better in certain situations, but that's the game of hockey. Four [wins] in a row is great, but we can't look too far ahead."

The Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday announced the signing of University of Minnesota defenseman Mark Alt to an entry-level contract.

The rights to Alt, a second-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2010 NHL Draft, were acquired by the Flyers in a deal that also saw them acquire goalie Brian Boucher in exchange for Luke Pither on Jan. 12.

Alt, 21, posted seven assists and 20 penalty minutes, including a career-best plus-minus rating of plus-19 in 39 games for the Golden Gophers this season. He helped the team post a record of 26-9-5 and finish first in the WCHA standings, as well as the second-ranked defense in the WCHA, allowing 2.29 goals-per-game.

Over the course of three seasons at Minnesota, the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Alt posted seven goals, 39 points and 85 penalty minutes in 117 games, which also included a trip to the NCAA's Frozen Four in 2012, the team's first appearance since the 2005 season.