from Scott Burnside of ESPN,

Quite a battle shaping up in the Atlantic Division with just five points separating the second-place Tampa Bay Lightning and the fifth-place Detroit Red Wings. Montreal -- just a point back of Tampa -- Toronto and Detroit all won Thursday night, with the Lightning dropping their second in a row, a 4-1 loss to Toronto to further complicate matters in the division.

With Boston running away with the Atlantic and Pittsburgh owning the Metropolitan Division, the key is to finish in either second or third in the Atlantic (or the Metro, for that matter) to avoid a possible first-round date with either the Bruins or Penguins.

The Lightning and Habs have identical 4-5-1 records over the past 10 games, while Toronto (7-2-1) and Detroit (6-2-2) have been playing better; the Leafs are tied with Montreal in points but have played one more game than the Canadiens and two more than the Lightning.

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