The Boston Bruins had ‘not discussed first place,’ but there they are anyway

With their 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night, the Boston Bruins moved into first place not only in the Atlantic Division, but the Eastern Conference.

The Boston Bruins were banged-up.

The Boston Bruins were battered.

The Boston Bruins were bruised.

But on Thursday night, the Boston Bruins broke free of the the constraints that had bound them up until this point in the season and, for the first time since October, the Tampa Bay Lightning were no longer atop the Atlantic Division.

Not only did the Bruins (48-17-11) pull into first place in the Atlantic with their gutty win, secured by Brad Marchand’s empty-netter in the final seconds, but they also usurped first place in the Eastern Conference. At 107, they have one more point than the Lightning with one fewer game played.

Prior to the game, head coach Bruce Cassidy said that the team had “not discussed” first place.

Yeah, right.

“We try to win every game, so if it works out, great,” Cassidy said, per Kevin Dillon of MassLive. “We have not discussed [first place] once. We want to win. We are preparing for the next game.”

Whether the Bruins discussed the possibility of landing first place or not doesn’t really matter. The fact remains that with six games left to go in the season, there they sit.

With the win, Boston changes its playoff destiny, now drawing the New Jersey Devils in a first-round matchup if the playoffs started today rather than the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bruins swept the regular-season series with the Devils.

In the month of March, the Bruins have gone 9-2-3 with an average of 3.57 goals per game, despite missing key contributors Patrice Bergeron, Rick Nash, Torey Krug, David Backes, Jake DeBrusk, Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy for the better part of the month.

Boston helped itself immensely by increasing its foothold on the No. 1 seed and potentially avoiding a first-round matchup with the Maple Leafs.

Next: The Greatest Offensive Franchises In NHL History

But at this point, it’s hard to imagine anyone in the East being able to hold this Bruins team back.