ATLANTA — Unless you are the Detroit Red Wings, there is plenty of work to be done just to get into the NHL playoffs before thoughts drift to making a run for the Stanley Cup.

As hockey returns tonight from its four-day All-Star break, teams will be gearing up for the stretch drive that has a little more than 30 games left per club. Parity is prevailing, and almost no one is out of the running.

The only team that is truly safe is Detroit, which has a 22-point lead in the Central Division, a 17-point edge in the Western Conference, and a 12-point cushion in the chase for the Presidents' Trophy and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

Finishing on top doesn't ensure postseason success, however. Just ask the Buffalo Sabres, who stormed through the Eastern Conference a year ago but were knocked out in the semifinals by the Ottawa Senators.

"Yeah, there's no guarantees — having a good regular season to then play well in the playoffs," Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. "We as a team try to do whatever we can to prepare ourselves for the playoffs to have a good playoff run again."

The next biggest division lead is in the Northeast, where Ottawa is six points ahead of surprising Montreal.

There are two tied divisional races, and another where first and second place are separated by one skinny point. New York's Islanders and Rangers are tied for eighth — the postseason cutoff — in the Eastern Conference, 12 points below Ottawa but only nine in front of last-place Tampa Bay.

"It is hectic," Philadelphia forward Mike Richards said. "Every game counts. I looked at our schedule and we play our last five or six games against our division opponents. Coming down the stretch here, every game is going to be so important."

Tell that to Pittsburgh, which is a point out of first in the Atlantic, but facing the prospect of being without defending scoring champion Sidney Crosby for several weeks due to his high ankle sprain.

Behind Detroit in the West the race is tight throughout. The Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks are tied in points atop the Pacific Division but only five ahead of the eighth-place deadlock between Colorado and Columbus.

"Everyone is so close to each other, you fight so hard to get into the postseason and if you have a tough first-round opponent you might get knocked out right away," Sharks forward Joe Thornton said. "

Last place today could be first place in a week, and vice versa.

"Anybody can beat anybody," said Carolina Hurricanes forward Eric Staal, the MVP of the Eastern Conference's 8-7 victory over the West in Sunday's All-Star game. "Right now for our team it's about stringing together a bunch of wins."