The Toronto Maple Leafs have won two games in a row, and four of their last six games. Overall, their have a record of 18-9-2.
Such a record is good enough for first place in the NHL's toughest division, and the Toronto Maple Leafs currently have the same amount of points as the Florida Panthers, but have a game in hand.
As we've discussed many times, winning the Division gives whoever does it a massive advantage in the playoffs, because in most scenarios, the second and third place finishers in the Atlantic are both going to be one of the NHL's best teams.
If the season was over today, the Leafs would play the New York Rangers, which is the kind of weird thing that happens after just a third of the season. It is almost certain that the Rangers will recover and finish higher up in the standings. Then again, who knows? It would be very Leafy to win the division and get the Rangers. (nhl.com).
NHL and Maple Leafs Standings and Stats Update
The Leafs have a five point lead over the Bruins, and two games in hand. The Lightning have played one less game than Toronto, but are six points out. The Leafs .655 points-percentage puts them sixth in the NHL. They are four points back of Washington for first overall (also Washington isn't that good and this won't last).
By points-percentage, the Bruins and the Rangers are the current wild-cards, but interestingly, the Penguins are only three points back though they've played three more games. Still, they're a lot closer than you'd think given how much people talk about their needing to rebuild.
The Senators are .500 and a small winning streak will get them right back in business. They are only three points back of the Rangers and both have played 28 times.
The crazy thing about the current standings is that while it looks like almost all the teams currently in a playoff spot will get one (Washington has a huge lead, the Rangers stand to get better, and the Bruins are playing great since firing their coach) the teams like the Red Wings, Senators and Sabres are right there.
The last place Canadiens have 25 points and essentially the same record as the Sabres, but they are only 3.5 games back of the Flyers (if you use baseball parlance) who currently hold down a playoff positin.
The Eastern Conference Playoff Picture is much more interesting than it at first appears.