Are the Top Eight Set in the East? When Will "Marty" Get His Due?

It was just a few weeks ago that seemingly every team outside of the Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs still had a legitimate chance to lay claim to a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

That time has come and gone.

The Islanders have hit a wall. The Panthers haven't been able to find the back of the net on a consistent basis. Tampa Bay is 3-6-1 in their last ten. The Thrashers have lost four straight. The Rangers are winless in four.

Meanwhile, the Flyers and Bruins have are both 7-2-1 in their last ten, while the Canadiens have won four straight.

The difference between eighth (Bruins) and ninth place (Rangers) is now five points, and the Bruins have just 66 games played.

Can Atlanta get back in the race with their current roster? Doubtful. The Lightning have received Herculean efforts from Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos, and they're still having trouble piling up points in the standings. I thought Henrik Lundqvist, alone, would be enough to get the Rangers into the bottom of the top-eight. It doesn't look as if that's going to be the case - the Rangers just have too many problems...

Steven Stamkos is on fire (understatement of day). With 42 goals and 80 points in 66 games played, the 20-year old has seen more than his fair share of media attention, and right fully so.

But if you think Stamkos is the driving force behind the Lightning, you're sadly mistaken. That honor goes to former Hart-Trophy Winner Marty St. Louis.

Over the last three seasons, St. Louis has amassed 102, 83, and 80 points, respectively, and is on pace for 100 points here in '09-'10. But as far as media attention goes, St. Louis has taken a back-seat to two first overall picks, first Vincent Lecavalier and now Stamkos.

Think of him as the "sidekick" all you want - St. Louis is the little engine that runs the show in Tampa Bay. It was natural for Lecavalier, and now Stamkos, to get most of the attention. They've scored goals in bunches, and therefore get much of the credit. But watch one Lightning game and you'll realize much of that is due to the innate passing ability of St. Louis. There's a good reason that Stamkos is able to score the same goal with the man advantage, over and over again, from the top left circle.

St. Louis has an unbelievable knack for drawing defenders to himself before distributing the puck to the open guy. And, when that guy happens to have the shooting ability of a Steven Stamkos, the goals will come in flocks.

The 5'9'' (if he's actually 5'9'' then I'm Zdeno Chara) right-winger is great along the boards, plays well in all three zones, is great on special teams, and - most importantly - he makes everyone around him better.