Although the William Nylander contract dispute has come to a close, the Toronto Maples Leafs did not have luck this week. They faced three Atlantic division teams and lost two of them, one to the Boston Bruins. This is great news for the B’s. Here’s how they and our other rivals are doing.
First in the Atlantic: Tampa Bay Lightning
Games played: 31
Point leader: Nikita Kucherov
The Tampa Bay Lightning had a great week, unfortunately for the Bruins. They played for games and won each of them. One of them was a 7-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche. The Lightning are on fire, dominating the division. Ondrej Palat scored his first and second goals of the season against the Avalanche. Will the Lightning ever crash and burn? We can only hope so.
Nowadays everybody wanna talk like they got something to say...#COLvsTBL | #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/J3iqjRTdbJ
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 9, 2018
Second in the Atlantic: Toronto Maple Leafs
Games played: 30
Point leader: Mitch Marner
The week was a rough one for the Leafs. They faced the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, and the Boston Bruins this week and lost two of the three. They beat the Sabres in overtime for their only win this week. The Red Wings beat them in OT, while the Bruins had a wonderful 6-3 victory over them. Zach Hyman made a bad hit on Charlie McAvoy that landed him a two game suspension. They face the struggling Carolina Hurricanes next. Maybe they will begin their resurgence then?
Third in the Atlantic: Buffalo Sabres
Games played: 30
Point leader: Jack Eichel
The Leafs may have had a lackluster week, but the Buffalo Sabres had a worse one. First they lost to the Nashville Predators, then the Leafs in OT, and finally, a 6-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. They allowed six unanswered goals against the Flyers. They face off against the Los Angeles Kings next and they are having a really poor season. Maybe their bad luck will end?
Fourth in the Atlantic: your Boston Bruins!
Games played: 30
Point leader: David Pastrnak
The poor Bruins are struggling big time with injuries. Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara are still out with their respective injuries. Charlie McAvoy made his return to the B’s lineup, but seemed to get beat up against Toronto, but played against the Ottawa Senators the next day, which is good news. Jake DeBrusk missed this weekend’s games with the explanation of ‘feeling physically unwell’. We can only go up from here, right?
Fifth in the Atlantic: Montreal Canadiens
Games played: 30
Point leader: Max Domi
I’m sorry to report that the Montreal Canadiens had a successful week. The Habs won all three of the games they played. They beat the Ottawa Senators twice, both with the final score of 5-2. They also beat out the Chicago Blackhawks, but struggled with penalty minutes and didn’t look so great. Carey Price has been playing well and secured them the win over Chicago. They see the Minnesota Wild next and we can only hope their win streak gets cut.
Sixth in the Atlantic: Detroit Red Wings
Games played: 30
Point leader: Dylan Larkin
The Detroit Red Wings were another Atlantic team that had a hard week. They were shut out by the Colorado Avalanche, then lost 6-5 in a shootout to the Tampa Bay Lightning, won in OT over the Leafs, and then lost again to the New York Islanders. The games were close, with the Red Wings within a goal or two each time. Offensively, the Red Wings aren’t that bad. They struggle to keep a lead. If they could figure that out, they might be able to rise up in the division.
Dylan Larkin's breakaway game winner in Toronto comes in as our @MonroeShocks Play of the Week! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/OGgb2Tysit
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 9, 2018
Seventh in the Atlantic: Ottawa Senators
Games played: 31
Point leader: Mark Stone
The Bruins beat out the Ottawa Senators on Sunday and the senators were already pretty beat. They’ve lost a few key pieces to the IR. They lost Matt Duchene, who is in second for points on Ottawa roster. Winger Bobby Ryan is also injured, while Mark Borowiecki has missed nine straight games. Just prior to playing the Bruins, the Senators lost defensemen Dylan DeMelo and Christian Jaros. The Senators lost all but one of the four games they played this week. Things are looking rough for the Sens.
Eighth in the Atlantic: Florida Panthers
Games played: 28
Point leader: Jonathan Huberdeau
Somehow, the last place Florida Panthers shut out the Boston Bruins and scored five goals against them this week. I will not make you relive that horror, but what gives? This Florida Panthers team also held their own against the Tampa Bay Lightning last week, forcing the game to overtime. The rest of this week saw two losses, one in regulation to the Colorado Avalanche and the other in OT to the New York Rangers. This team is interesting to say the least.