Boston Bruins: Power Ranking the Atlantic after week one

We are one week into the NHL season and the storylines are beginning to write themselves. I’m not sure anyone expected three wins from three, on the road, for the Boston Bruins though.

What is expected to be a very competitive Atlantic Division, week one proved that the Boston Bruins will need to remain consistent in their play to earn themselves a third consecutive playoff berth.

The Atlantic Division is one of the youngest divisions in hockey right now and holder of some of the most talented players in the league. There is certainly no guarantee that the boys in black and yellow will secure a top 3 position in the division at the end of the year.

However, after the way the season has started for Bruce Cassidy and his team, its hard not to be optimistic that the Boston Bruins will be amongst the favorites in earning the top spot in the Atlantic.

After week one of the NHL season, here are my Power Rankings for the Atlantic Division:

The Sens have not gotten the start their fans might have hoped for despite a tough beginning schedule.

After dropping a 5-3 decision to the Toronto Maple Leafs on the road, the Sens returned to Ottawa for their home opener versus the New York Rangers where they were largely dominated by ex-Senator Mika Zibanejad.

Its no secret that the Senators are in a rebuilding phase, however this organization has been known to surprise people in the past, meaning that the Bruins should still face a competitive squad in their four division meetings in 2019-2020.

Despite being fourth in the division after one week of action, the Detroit Red Wings slide into 6th place in the Atlantic division power rankings.

Detroit impressed many by beating Nashville on the road Saturday night, and following that up with a win against the Dallas Stars during their home opener thanks to a 4-goal effort by Anthony Mantha.

The Red Wings aren’t expected to be a playoff team this season and they may be playing over their heads in the early going. Still, Steve Yzerman has already built one force in the Atlantic Division, and it’s not difficult to think that he can turn this speedy Red Wings team into playoff performers before long.

I have high expectations for the Panthers after improving their roster this off-season, but after a less-than-admirable start, they find themselves at #5 in this week’s power rankings.

The Panthers had arguably the hardest starting schedule in the division (the Bruins are up there too) but their most expensive off-season acquisition, Sergei Bobrovsky, has not yet been able to steal a game for their high scoring offense.

I don’t expect Bobrovsky to continue at this pace (11 GA on 78 shots, .859 SV%), and I can see the Panthers working their way back up the power rankings next week.

The Bruins don’t face Florida until November and I expect the B’s to have many competitive games against former Bruin, Noel Acciari, and his new squad.

You’ll never find me giving the Canadiens too much credit, but it was incredibly impressive to watch their third period comeback-win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.

My gut feeling is that the Canadiens will be a pesky team to play against this season. Carey Price remains one of the best goalies in the league and has been known to steal games against the Bruins over the years.

The storyline is still there when facing off against Claude Julien, and fans will be close to watch the performances of Cassidy vs Julien when these historic rivals match up in 2019-2020.

I couldn’t let Tampa fall too far in this week’s power rankings, I just couldn’t. This team is good, really good. The lighting added some key depth this off-season and were able to re-sign their start restricted free agent Brayden Point.

I fully expect the Bruins and Lighting to have some unbelievable battles this year, with each game setting the tone for a more-than-likely playoff match-up.

The Lightning had a somewhat difficult starting schedule and pulled out the aesthetically pleasing 1-1-1 record. The schedule doesn’t get any easier for Tampa, and the Bruins will get their first taste of this cup-hungry Lightning squad next Thursday at TD Garden.

I don’t even think this can be chalked up to bias. Bruins fans have learned to never doubt this team in the past couple years, but I think few of us expected the boys to have such success on this taunting west coast road trip to begin the year.

After a very impressive 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars, the Boston Bruins followed it up on Saturday night with a 1-0 shutout victory for Jaroslav Halak against the Arizona Coyotes.

If that wasn’t enough, Brad Marchand led a somewhat comeback victory against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday evening, playing in one of the toughest road buildings in the league.

Patrice Bergeron and the first line were quiet throughout the first two games of the season, but just when most would expect it, they showed up for a dominant effort on Tuesday.

Brett Ritchie has been a pleasant surprise to start the season, as he aims to fill a fourth line role left void by a Noel Acciari departure.

Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak seem to be continuing where they left off last season, and I would expect that we see a near 50/50 split in playing time through the first half of the year. Tuukka Rask ended the game on Tuesday with what appeared to be a concerning injury, so we’ll work on keeping you updated as more information is released by the team.

Up next for the B’s is a match-up against the Colorado Avalanche before coming home to TD Garden for their home opener against P.K. Subban and his new team, the New Jersey Devils, Saturday night at 7PM ET.

I fully expect second-line youngster, Jake DeBrusk, to get it going at home this weekend in what will likely be a raucous Saturday night Boston crowd.

My Weekend Prediction: Bruins top the Devils 3-2 at home. DeBrusk tallies a goal and finishes with a +2 rating, racking up 4 shots on net and giving the Bruins faithful what they want, a now-famous Jake DeBrusk goal celebration.