The Atlantic Division standings are producing an intriguing battle at the top and the Detroit Red Wings will look to close the gap on third place.
Here’s where we stand at the end of the week.
- Tampa Bay Lightning 19 Pts
- Ottawa Senators 15 Pts
- Toronto Maple Leafs 14 Pts
- Detroit Red Wings 11 Pts
- Boston Bruins 10 Pts
- Florida Panthers 9 Pts
- Buffalo Sabres 8 Pts
- Montreal Canadiens 7 Pts
With every team in the division past the 10 game mark, the race for the playoffs is beginning to show signs of who might come out on top. The Lightning were one of the favorites to win the division at the beginning of the season and they are showing why during their early stretch of games.
It has been nothing short of a fantastic start for the likes of Stevan Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. The team as a whole has been stellar and they are winning the close games that could potentially take them to a Stanley Cup winning season.
Elsewhere, the Senators and Maple Leafs are in a close battle for second as the two Canadian teams had less than stellar weeks losing two out of their three respective games.
The rest of the division has had a rough last few weeks and a small gap is already being put on them by the top three.
In Montreal, the Canadiens continued their slow start to the campaign as they occupy last place entering this week.
Red Wings Outlook
For the Red Wings, their six-game skid did not necessarily have the dire consequences early on that one may have thought. They are still within striking distance of the third spot in the division and it really could have been much worse if the Maple Leafs and Senators won at least two more games during the Wings struggles.
In the wild-card race, they find themselves just two points out of the top spot.
With that being said, the Red Wings simply can’t afford six-game losing streaks or really anything over three or four games. If they want to make it back into the playoffs this season then this six-game skid will have the be the worst stretch of the season moving forward.