20/20 VISION MAY BE CLEARER.

Byline: Matt McHale

Kings coach Andy Murray shuddered Sunday night when reminded that he planned to evaluate this year's team in four 20-game increments.

``Why don't you get back to me after 40 games,'' he said, not wanting to get too excited that the Kings' 3-2 victory over Phoenix tied them with Ottawa for the best record in the NHL.

It's hard not to get excited when a team with just one playoff appearance in the last six years is tied for the Western Conference lead, especially when many picked it last in its division.

Kings fans should remember it is still early, but tonight's game with Chicago at Staples Center will be their 20th this season. For the Kings, and the rest of the NHL, the first six weeks of the post-Wayne Gretzky era have been busy.

Dallas and Buffalo, last year's Stanley Cup finalists, still are fighting serious hangovers. The Stars should recover. The Sabres, without goalie Dominik Hasek, might not.

Many of the restricted free agents - like Edmonton's Bill Guerin and Boston's Byron Dafoe - finally have re-signed. Unrestricted free agent Joe Murphy also signed with the Bruins after the New York Rangers appeared to have a deal done.

But it has been that kind of year for the Rangers, who have six victories and only five power-play goals to show for their record $59 million payroll.

After slow starts that caused a tremendous uproar in Boston and Philadelphia, the Bruins and Flyers have calmed jittery fans and front offices with long unbeaten streaks.

In Ottawa, the Senators tied the Kings, Detroit and Toronto with a league-high 26 points even though their top player Alexei Yashin is sitting out the season.

The holdout has caused some fans to sue the team and now the Senators want to sue Yashin for breach of contract. He refused to play this year for $3.5 million and the team says he owes them next season at the same salary.

Of course, the Senators are up for sale as they try to get the Canadian government to cut them a deal on an arena tax. Ottawa and Montreal pay more tax than the other 26 teams combined.

But it wasn't as bad as the Canadiens' nine-game winless streak that put them in last place long before the first snowfall. This could be a long winter for some.

Even in Florida, where the Panthers are in first place despite the absence of high-scoring Pavel Bure. That team also is for sale. At least owner Wayne Huizenga does not have plans to gut the team the way he did with baseball's Florida Marlins.

Huizenga paid $50 million for the expansion franchise in 1992. Within the past year, several teams have been sold. The Colorado Avalanche was had for about $230 million; the Washington Capitals were part of a $200 million deal that included the MCI Center; the Tampa Bay Lightning was sold for $115 million.

With numbers like that, it is not surprising that the NHL Players Association is taking a harder line in an attempt to raise salaries. But this is a sport that only gets $7 million per team for its national TV contract.

Blue Lines

TOP 10 LISTS

Team Payroll (U.S.)

1. N.Y. Rangers

$59.4 million

2. Philadelphia

$50.3 million

3. Detroit

$43.4 million

4. Dallas

$42.3 million

5. Colorado

$41.5 million

6. San Jose

$37.6 million

7. Toronto

$35.5 million

8. Mighty Ducks

$35.1 million

9. Kings

$34.6 million

10. Vancouver

$34.0 million

NHL average: $31.5 million

Player Salaries

No. Player Salary (U.S.)

1. Jaromir Jagr, Pitt. $10.4 million

2. Paul Kariya, Ducks $10.0 million

3. Peter Forsberg, Colo. $ 9.4 million

4. Theo Fleury, NYR  $8.5 million

Lindros, Phil. $8.5 million

6. Pavel Bure, Fla. $8.0 million

7. Patrick Roy, Colo. $7.5 million

8. Dominek Hasek, Buf. $7.0 million

Sundin, Tor. $7.0 million

10. Brian Leetch, NYR $6.7 million

T-19. Teemu Selanne, Ducks$5.5 million

21. Blake, Kings $5.3 million

T-22. Palffy, Kings $5.0 million

POWER PLAYS

Top five

Team Games Goals Attempts Pct.

Colorado 17 16 56 28.6

Philadelphia 19 22 79 27.8

Kings 19 18 73 24.7

Boston 18 17 78 21.8

Calgary 17 16 75 21.3

Bottom five

Team Games Goals Attempts Pct.

N.Y. Islanders 15 7 53 13.2

Montreal 18 9 70 12.9

Mighty Ducks 18 7 56 12.5

Buffalo 18 8 77 10.4

N.Y. Rangers 19 5 79 6.3.

Note: The Mighty Ducks led the league last year with a 22 percent conversion rate. The Kings were 24th out of 28 teams at 13.1.

KINGS vs. CHICAGO

Time: 7:30 p.m. at Staples Center.

TV/Radio:Fox Sports West, KRLA-AM (1110).

Matchup: When these two teams met in Chicago on Oct. 30, the Kings were in the middle of a season-high five-game winning streak and defeated the Blackhawks 3-1. Tonight, 4-9-4 Chicago opens a seven-game trip after winning just once on a four-game homestand. Sunday, Edmonton scored five consecutive goals to beat the Blackhawks 6-3. In that game, one of Chicago's few bright spots - penalty-killing - broke down. After 31 consecutive penalty kills, the Blackhawks gave up two power-play goals. Both came after penalties to defenseman Boris Mironov. . . . Injured Kings goalie Stephane Fiset underwent an MRI on Monday. Results showed no fracture in his right hand.

CAPTION(S):

2 boxes

BOX: (1) Blue Lines (see text)

(2) Kings vs. Chicago (see text)