Atlantic Division Power Rankings: Boston Bruins top after October

The Maple Leafs are playing below their potential at this point in the season, but they have had their fair share of injuries to begin the season.

The Boston Bruins took care of the struggling Leafs on home ice a few weeks back and since then Babcock’s squad hasn’t quite looked the same. John Tavares missed most of October with a broken finger and should return to the lineup this week, providing a much-needed spark to their offense.

The upcoming schedule looks favorable for Toronto with some key home match-ups on tap which should push them up the power rankings shortly. The Bruins will have an opportunity to face Tavares for the first time this season when they take on the Leafs on November 15th.

The Canadiens are a very inconsistent team in 2019 which makes them a bit of a wild card to face on a nightly basis. The small and speedy group from Montreal recently earned points against Vegas and Toronto while dropping games to Dallas and the San Jose Sharks.

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Montreal has been able to compete within the division thus far earning points in 3 out of 5 in-division match-ups, which has helped them earn their current position in the standings.

Dating back to January of 2018 the Boston Bruins are 5-1 against the Canadiens which might bode well for the B’s when they face-off against the Canadiens on Tuesday evening (editor’s note: it didn’t).

I’m still not convinced that the Canadiens will be pushing for a playoff position in March, but that doesn’t go without saying that they will still present a challenge for the Boston Bruins this season.

The current standings would suggest that Tampa should be ranked lower in this list, but I’m just not buying it. The Lightning will have played at least two fewer games than Toronto and Montreal by Tuesday evening and are just a few points back from both of them.

Furthermore, Tampa recently lost all-star defenseman Victor Hedman which has left a big hole in their d-pairings. The Lightning don’t have many games in the next two weeks, but they do have a crucial home and home series against the Buffalo Sabres this weekend (being played in Sweden) and with favorable results, this will push them up the power rankings in the next edition.