It feels like the Tampa Bay Lightning haven’t spent much time playing teams within their own division. but that’s going to change as three of the next four are against fellow Atlantic teams, starting with two against the Florida Panthers. Of course, considering the Lightning are currently 0-3 in their division, maybe that’s not a good thing. Two of those losses have come against the Maple Leafs (which is doubly annoying) and the third came early in the season against Ottawa.
With a few games coming up against some familiar rivals, how about we take a spin around the Atlantic and see what’s going on with the other teams.
Toronto Maple Leafs (20-10-2) 1st in the Division
Injuries in net? Yup, it’s a familiar story for the Maple Leafs as early-season feel-good story Anthony Stolarz is sidelined for a few weeks. While Joseph Woll will get the bulk of the playing time, the Leafs have turned to a familiar face to back him up as Matt Murray is back in the NHL. After missing all of last season recovering from bilateral hip surgery, the 30-year-old is finally back between the pipes for the Leafs.
While they are dealing with a new goalie, it looks like their new captain is still dealing with some issues of his own. He recently returned from a nine-game absence and has been averaging a point-a-game, which seems pretty good. However, his head coach revealed that Auston Matthews is still dealing with something and isn’t at 100%.
That’s a shame.
Florida Panthers (20-11-2) 2nd in the division
If the Bolts can take both games against the Panthers, they will really tighten the gap among the top three teams in the Atlantic. It’s been a weird season for the Panthers. Yes, they’re winning more than they’re losing, but the consistency hasn’t quite been there. They were recently shut out in back-to-back games, but followed those losses up by scoring six goals in back-to-back games.
Florida is in an era where winning in the regular season is nice, but the focus is on the playoffs. So, some things that might be concerning for other teams, like, we don’t know, goaltending, isn’t as big of a worry for the Panthers right now. Both Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight are currently sporting save percentages well below .900 and have been underwater in terms of goals saved above expected, but they’re still getting the wins. Will they turn it around once the playoffs get here? If they want to repeat as champs, they better hope so.
Tampa Bay Lightning (18-10-2) 3rd in the division
Yes, they are without J.J. Moser for awhile, but the Lightning still have a lot of pretty good players, and the fine folks over at the NHL took a look at some of their NHL Edge numbers.They point out that the Bolts are leading the league in goals-per-game, but also in high-danger goals with 60.
Boston Bruins (17-13-4) 4th in the divsion
Old friend Tyler Johnson’s attempt to stick with Bruins appears to have come to an end as he was put on waivers with the intent of terminating his contract. He had earned a contract with them after joining them on a PTO in the summer, but produced just two points in nine games, and was a healthy scratch in seven of the last eight games.
The Bruins as a team are struggling to find their groove and their special teams haven’t been quite so special as they are converting just 12.71% percent of their power plays.
Ottawa Senators (17-13-2) 5th in the division
Have the Senators excited their rebuild and entered their ready to contend phase? Possibly. They’re hanging around a wild card spot and are riding a five-game winning streak. They’re starting to find ways to win games that they’ve lost over the past few seasons and could be a little pesky down the stretch.
With the recent winning streak, some of the Brady Tkachuk trade talk has died down a little, but it could heat up in the summer if they fail to make the playoffs yet again.
Detroit Red Wings (13-14-4) 6th in the division
This is where the division starts to separate a bit as the Senators are six points clear of the Red Wings. And while Ottawa appears to be a young team starting to figure things out, Detroit seems to be stuck in neutral. It does look like they are getting goaltender Cam Talbot back after he missed some time with a lower-body injury, but they did lose defenseman Simon Edvinsson in their last outing.
The Yzerplan (Detroit’s version) isn’t going quite as swimmingly as it did in Tampa Bay for Steve Yzerman. More specifically, it isn’t moving along as quickly as it did for Mr. Yzerman with the Lightning. The Red Wings are stockpiling future cap space and a good crop of young players, but at some point they have to start seeing results on the ice.
Montreal Canadiens (12-16-3) 7th in the division
Speaking of teams with a nice stockpile of young talent, Montreal has a lot of promising young players, but made a move earlier in the week to bring in a little veteran talent. Alexandre Carrier isn’t going to propel them into the playoff hunt this year, but he give them some experience while young defenders like Lane Huston, David Reinbacker, and Jayden Struble continue to develop.
Apparently there was a bit of a kerfuffle in Montreal when some members of their executive team (including old friend Vinny Lecavalier) went over to Russia to watch prospect Ivan Demidov, their first-round pick in 2024, play for SKA Saint Petersburg. With GM Kent Hughes as part of the delegation that went to check on their prospect, it’s believed they are the first NHL executives to visit the country since the war against Ukraine began.
Buffalo Sabres (11-17-4) 8th in the division
On November 23rd, the Buffalo Sabres beat the San Jose Sharks for their 11th win of the season. They haven’t won since. They have now lost 11 games in a row (including three in overtime or a shootout) and are in the process of losing to Toronto as we write this post. Some folks think it’s time to burn it to the ground, which could make for a very interesting trade deadline.
It doesn’t appear change is imminent, but frustration is setting in for the players. The only thing they can really do is keep grinding out games and hope their fortunes turn sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, Lindy Ruff is hoping to take the fans out of the game…at a home game. To be fair, he was referring to tonight’s game against the Leafs, which is usually well attended by Toronto fans. Checking on the score, his plan probably didn’t work.
