Bruins closing gap on Lightning's lead in Atlantic Division

The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Bruins in game No. 82 of the 2014-15 season, ending any chance Boston had of earning a Stanley Cup playoff berth. It was a statement game for the Lightning.

Afterwards, captain Steven Stamkos admitted the Lightning made it a point to end the Bruins’ season on the final day of the regular season because everyone feared facing them in the playoffs. Fast forward to 2017-18. The Bruins have narrowed the Lightning’s lead in the Atlantic Division to one point (entering Thursday’s action).

The Bruins still have 31 games remaining in the regular season, but they’re showing zero signs of slowing down. If anything, Boston is gaining confidence and getting stronger. Many scouts and hockey personnel executives throughout the league believe the Bruins will be a dangerous team this spring.

In a recent conversation with BostonSportsJournal.com, Bruce Cassidy admitted that he’s already thinking about the playoffs.

"Our regular season is going well, but how’s that going to translate in April and May? I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but it starts to get in the back of your mind now," Cassidy said. "People have expectations, so that’s good; we’ve done a good thing. We’ve raised the expectations, so let’s see where we get to.”

A perfect example of the Bruins' relentless style was on display against the New York Rangers on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. Boston held a 6-1 lead and in the waning minutes of the game, the Bruins were still trying to score. That mentality has helped them catch the Lightning.

“Listen, we’re trying to win every game that’s on the schedule in front of us. If we catch them, great, if not and they play great that’s the way it goes," Cassidy said. "We obviously pay attention to it but it’s not our main focus. If you ask our group, the guys just want to play period to period. There’s a lot of passion in their game and it’s fun to be around.”

Ask the players about the team's position in the standings and they'll credit the injuries and bout of adversity it faced earlier in the season that has helped them reach this point of the season.

“It’s been a process,” said Brad Marchand. “Early on, with the amount of injuries we had and the adversity we went through, it was tough. Now, with how we’re feeling and how we’ve jelled as a team, the chemistry we have, we’re not overly concerned with the standings right now. We’re just concerned about our game and if we worry about the process, and being ready to play every night then everything will play out.”

Patrice Bergeron normally gives the company line and all the best cliches when asked about the state of the team. However, the alternate captain has been getting a little more in-depth in his evaluations of the team.

“We’re working really hard,” Bergeron said. “We keep talking about staying focused and keep pushing each other to be better. We’re working on things we want to work on and that we need to work on. We’re going to go back and work on our D-zone coverage a little bit more, and our slot coverage, and that’s the mindset of the process we’ve had. We don’t want to be too high or too low. We’re obviously trying to catch up to (Tampa) but we want to worry about what we can do better.”