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Boston Bruins: Bruins stay hot in Atlantic power rankings

By Raymond Crane

BOSTON - OCTOBER 14: Boston Bruins' David Pastrnak, (88, far left) celebrates his goal against the Anaheim Ducks with Bruins teammates Jake DeBrusk (74) and Patrice Bergeron (37) during the first period. The Boston Bruins host the Anaheim Ducks in a regular season NHL hockey game at TD Garden on Oct. 14, 2019. (Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
BOSTON - OCTOBER 14: Boston Bruins' David Pastrnak, (88, far left) celebrates his goal against the Anaheim Ducks with Bruins teammates Jake DeBrusk (74) and Patrice Bergeron (37) during the first period. The Boston Bruins host the Anaheim Ducks in a regular season NHL hockey game at TD Garden on Oct. 14, 2019. (Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /
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4. Toronto Maple Leafs

The biggest fallers of the week belong to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Although the Leafs were able to secure two wins in the last seven days, the wins came against teams that I project to finish near the bottom of the standings this season.

When Morgan Reilly and his teammates have played against teams with high powered offences, their lack of defensive ability has made them vulnerable.

I have watched each of Toronto’s first eight games of the year and I can tell you that the Leafs look like the same team the Bruins faced int the first round of the 2019 post-season.

This is not as impressive as I’ve made it sound considering they’re paying Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews a combined $20.7 million dollars more than last season.

The Leafs can score goals, they’ve never had a problem doing that. The Bruins can too, and just like 2018-19, the team with the better goalie performance will likely walk away as the winner in Toronto on Saturday night.

3. Tampa Bay Lightning

The Bolts are gaining strength after a week that included dominant victories over Toronto and Montreal.

The key to a Bruins victory over Tampa Bay tonight will be to stay disciplined and limit the amount of time Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos spend on the powerplay.

The Bolts have an impressive 31.25% powerplay percentage (against a league average 20.92%) while Kucherov and Stamkos have combined for three goals on the man advantage.

The more time the Bruins can spend at even strength, or better yet, on their own powerplay, the better chance the black and yellow will walk away with two points.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, in-division match-ups are important, regardless the time of the year, and I’m sure Patrice Bergeron and the rest of his team know this as they head into the game against Tampa.

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