See Where The Bruins Were In THN's Power Rankings

The Boston Bruins woke up Thursday morning perched atop the Atlantic Division with 18 games played, one point ahead of the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning who have also played 18 games a piece.

The Bruins square off with the Canadiens Thursday night inside TD Garden, a game for first place in the division.

With the season almost a quarter of the way through, The Hockey News released their latest Power Rankings.

The Bruins received their highest ranking to date, all the way at #2 in the NHL.

From The Power Rankings & Jason Chen:

"We can argue the Bruins have had one of the easiest schedules so far – they've played only two games against divisional opponents, and they're 1-1-0 – but kudos to them for banking points early in the season. It will really help them make the playoffs."

That argument feels a little weak as the Bruins are a solid 5-3-1 against teams currently in the playoffs. They are 8-1-0 against the non-playoff sides, so there is some credence to Boston banking points against the teams they should.

Either way, the Bruins will be about to sort it all out themselves. Four of their next five games come against teams in the playoffs (by points percentage), with two divisional games in that mix.

You can read the full Power Rankings here: