The Bruins are still rolling and the Leafs are trying to keep pace. Beneath them in the depths of hell, Marc Bergevin is trying to figure out how to further ruin the Habs and the Sabres had some good prospect showings at the WJC that none of their fans watched.

The Lightning started the new year on the road, picking up wins against Toronto and Detroit but getting dropped by Montreal and Ottawa. The team is nine points clear of the Bruins for top seed in the Atlantic Division and it seems likely they’re going to hang on to that spot.

In worse news, Dan Girardi left Sunday’s game with a neck injury and his status isn’t certain. It’s weird to say that losing Girardi is a bad thing, but he’s actually been solid for Tampa in a defensive role this year.

The Bruins have been on fire as of late and are quickly climbing up the ladder in the Atlantic Division. Like I said, they have a lot of work to catch up to Tampa Bay, but they’re a point ahead of the Maple Leafs with three games in hand. Last week, they earned five of a possible six points with wins over the Islanders and Hurricanes and an overtime loss to the Penguins.

The Leafs opened the new year with a frustrating 2-0 loss to the Lightning, but responded with back-to-back shootout wins against the Sharks and Canucks. Even though they’re playing well, the Leafs are going to have to pick it up even more to keep pace with the rolling Bruins.

And then we fall off the cliff and into oblivion. The Wings had a solid week last week, going 2-1 with wins over the, uh, Sens and, uh, Panthers, who are both bad. They lost 5-2 to Tampa Bay and aren’t really anywhere near catching the Big Three in the Atlantic. At least they can play their way out of a good draft lottery position?

The Panthers were enjoying some Miami Heat before the new year, putting together a five-game winning streak to help pull them up the standings from doom to purgatory. But since then, they’re 0-2-1 on a rough road trip through Minnesota, Detroit, and Columbus. Also, speaking of the Blue Jackets, Vincent Trocheck took a wicked slash from David Savard, but luckily avoided serious injury.

The Habs are 2-1-0 in the new year with wins over Tampa Bay and Vancouver, but they have a lot of work to do before climbing up the standings and into relevance. The team is having a putrid season, and we’ve been blessed with some Marc Bergevin’s greatest hits. He’s shopping Max Pacioretty and he had this doozy about Jonathan Drouin.

The Sens are on a two-game winning streak for just the second time since they returned from Sweden in November and the wheels completely fell off the wagon. They beat San Jose and Tampa Bay last week after losing to the Red Wings, but hell, this Sens team is still a hilarious comedy to witness.

And then we have another massive drop into the basement. New year, same Sabres! Buffalo is 0-3-1 since the new year, with losses to the Rangers, Wild, Jets, and Flyers. At least Casey Mittelstadt had a good World Juniors? Too bad no Sabres fans bought tickets to watch it.