Boston Bruins: Is our top spot in the Atlantic Division at threat?

The Boston Bruins have sat in atop the Atlantic Division for much of this season, but recent form suggests that spot may be at threat sooner rather than later.

Not only have the Boston Bruins been struggling with very patchy form, but their main divisional rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning have been mounting point streaks comparable to our early season form.

Both Tampa and Toronto are currently sitting on matching 8-1-1 records in their last 10 games, whilst the Boston Bruins are sitting on a comparatively poor 4-1-5. If this sort of form continues, on both counts, we’re in big trouble.

It could be that the Toronto Maple Leafs are still riding the high and confidence boost that came from ditching Mike Babcock and installing Sheldon Keefe behind the bench. Their injuries have been tallying lately and they could well fade if they get hit by one to anyone in their top-six.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning, by comparison, seem even more dangerous; they’re now on an eight-game winning streak and show no signs of letting up. The offensive juggernaut that was predicted so widely, at the start of the season, to dominate is picking up steam.

They are coming off the back of a nine-goal performance against the Vancouver Canucks, a team that hasn’t exactly been a defensive slouch this year, at least not when you compare them to teams like the Detroit Red Wings or Ottawa Senators.

What’s even more daunting is the fact that they have games in hand over us. Should they win both those games in hand, we’re suddenly talking about just a three-point margin. Even when it comes to the Maple Leafs, they’re only sitting 8 points back; these are both very small margins.

Luckily, we face the Lightning twice more this year and the Leafs once more, whilst also getting the chance to tally some points against basement dwellers, Detroit in three more games against them. All of these encounters will have ramifications for the Atlantic Division final standings, no doubt.

Perhaps the biggest key to ensuring we can’t be caught is to make certain that we’re continuing to win games. Starting with the 6-2 victory over the Nashville Predators and hopefully continuing as we welcome the Winnipeg Jets to town, we need to make sure we’re continuing to add to our points tally.

Otherwise, it’s almost inevitable that barring any major slip-ups from Tampa and Toronto, that we’ll be facing one of them in the first round and likely the other in the second should we advance that far.

It may only be January, but the Stanley Cup Playoffs need to be at the forefront of the Boston Bruins’ minds. The results now determine how easy or hard it is to make it back to the Stanley Cup Final.

We have seen Boston Bruins’ winning streaks this season already; another one is overdue and much needed if we want to make this into less of a race for the top and more of a race for second-best!