The rest of the NHL is having trouble finding other places to play the Minnesota Wild, a team that is just as happy with life on the road as comforts at home. The Wild has not lost a regulation game on the road since Nov. 29, going 12-0-2 in the process. Of course, they’ve only lost three times at home since Nov. 19 (12-3-0), so you get the idea.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the Wild are at the top of THN.com’s post-all-star break Power Rankings. (Last week’s rankings in parentheses.):

THE CREAM OF THE CROP

1. Minnesota Wild (3)



2. San Jose Sharks (1)



3. Washington Capitals (2)



4. Pittsburgh Penguins (10)



5. Montreal Canadiens (7)



6. Anaheim Ducks (8)



7. New York Islanders (18)



8. Edmonton Oilers (9)



9. Boston Bruins (14)



10. Columbus Blue Jackets (5)

The Wild are not in first overall yet, but their .724 points percentage is best in the NHL…Patrick Marleau’s next goal will be the 500th of his almost, sort of, maybe, maybe not Hall of Fame career…After missing six straight with a lower-body injury, John Carlson returned to the lineup for the Capitals’ 3-2 loss to the Islanders Tuesday night…Another guy who missed six games with injury, Kris Letang, returned Tuesday night against Nashville and led the Penguins in ice time…Three goals on three shots against Buffalo Tuesday night. Perhaps Max Pacioretty should start shooting more…With an assist in Tuesday night’s win over Colorado, Corey Perry became the third player in Ducks’ history to record 700 points…The Islanders are 5-0-1 since Doug Weight took over and have beaten Eastern Conference heavyweights Columbus, Montreal and Washington in their past three…Defenseman Kris Russell was minus-4 in Edmonton’s 5-2 loss to Minnesota Tuesday night. “It’s embarrassing, especially on my part,” he said…With a win over Tampa Bay Tuesday night, the Bruins registered their first three-game winning streak since early December…Backup goalie Joonas Korpisalo has allowed 15 goals in four starts this season, but has won three of them.

THE MUSHY MIDDLE

11. Los Angeles Kings (19)



12. Florida Panthers (26)



13. Ottawa Senators (12)



14. New York Rangers (6)



15. Dallas Stars (24)



16. Winnipeg Jets (29)



17. Nashville Predators (16)



18. Carolina Hurricanes (28)



19. New Jersey Devils (22)



20. Chicago Blackhawks (4)

The Kings, who are just 11-13-3 away from the Staples Center, have just five games at home in the month of February…The six goals the Panthers scored in their win over Ottawa Tuesday night marked their highest offensive output this season…Curtis Lazar, a player the Senators are doing a terrific job at developing into a fourth-liner, was a healthy scratch for Ottawa’s loss in Florida Tuesday night…Alain Vigneault received a two-year contract extension which will take him through 2019-20 and double his salary to $4 million a season, according to the New York Post. He deserves it…The Stars are clearly a better team when they open things up. They scored five or more goals in four games in January and won them all…With their win against St. Louis Tuesday night, the Jets are now 12-4-1 against their Central Division foes. Included in that are a 3-0-0 mark against the Blues and a 4-0-0 record against Chicago…Speculation has it that Predators GM David Poile, who has never been shy about pulling the trigger on big trades, is sniffing around the Matt Duchene sweepstakes…Left winger Bryan Bickell, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in November, is practicing with the Hurricanes and won’t rule out a return this season…Devils defenseman Ben Lovejoy prior to his team’s 4-3 win over Detroit Tuesday night. “We’re trying to climb back in this race, and we’re trying to come out and have a fresh start after this all-star break. We have had an absolutely brutal schedule so far, and we have 12 favorable games where we need to make some ground up. We don't have any excuses right now.”…Hawks GM Stan Bowman has gone on the record saying he doesn’t expect to make any deals leading up to the trade deadline.

VYING FOR THE PARTICIPATION BADGE

21. Philadelphia Flyers (21)



22. Toronto Maple Leafs (13)



23. Calgary Flames (27)



24. St. Louis Blues (17)



25. Vancouver Canucks (25)



26. Detroit Red Wings (15)



27. Tampa Bay Lightning (23)



28. Buffalo Sabres (11)



29. Arizona Coyotes (20)



30. Colorado Avalanche (30)

Flyers’ goalie Steve Mason on his team’s play in a 5-1 loss to Carolina Tuesday night: “If we play like that, we’re not getting into the playoffs.”…The Leafs are 2-3-1 without defenseman Morgan Rielly and aren’t exactly sure when he’ll be back in the lineup…The Flames have adopted a “win and you’re in” philosophy with their goaltending, which means Brian Elliott should be in the crease Wednesday against Minnesota…The Blues couldn’t wait until Ken Hitchcock got two more wins so he could pass Al Arbour for third place on the all-time list before firing him?...Jannik Hansen, out since Dec. 22 with a lower-body injury, is expected to return to the lineup Saturday after having missed 23 games…The Red Wings have allowed the first goal in 30 of their 50 games this season and are dead-last in the Eastern Conference. They gave up two shorthanded goals against New Jersey in a 4-3 loss Tuesday night…If the Lightning could find a market for Ben Bishop, he’d probably have been dealt by now…January was a relatively good month for the Sabres. They went 7-5-1 and scored an average of 3.2 goals a game…No NHL team has fewer wins on the road than the Coyotes have this season…The Avalanche have lost three times to Anaheim during their current eight-game losing streak.