Atlantic Division notebook

After two months of mixing and matching, using call-ups and American Hockey League-level players, the Buffalo Sabres have returned to health on defense. Dmitry Kulikov is healthy. Zach Bogosian is healthy. Josh Gorges is healthy.
That should make things easier on coach Dan Bylsma, who has seen the Sabres decimated by injuries this season. It also should make things easier on Rasmus Ristolainen, the defenseman who has taken on the largest share of the load and has proven he can handle it, leading a defense that is 10th in the NHL in goals against at 2.50.
The initial idea for the Sabres was to limit the minutes of Ristolainen, 22, at least more than they did last season when he played 25:16 per game, good for 10th in the NHL. That hasn't happened. Instead, Ristolainen has played 26:37 per game this season, fifth in the League behind Dustin Byfuglien of the Winnipeg Jets, Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators, Ryan Suter of the Minnesota Wild and Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings.

Not that Ristolainen minds.
"I think I handled it pretty good so far," Ristolainen said by phone on Thursday. "It's only 30 games down and I've played a lot, but that's why you train in the summertime. Everyone wants to play a lot, so I've been really enjoying it."

He said he had gotten tired last season at different times, but he trained over the summer in order to fix that, in order to allow himself to make the best use of the minutes he would be given. And he has been given a lot of them.
"Maybe I couldn't handle the minutes right away [last season], but this year I feel in better shape and I'm one more year experienced, so I think this year I'm ready for that," he said. "I could play 30 minutes every night and it would be awesome."
He had been happy with his performance last season, but believed he could be better, wanted to be better, and thought he could improve on a season when he played all 82 games, with 41 points (nine goals, 32 assists).
In 30 games this season, Ristolainen has 21 points (two goals, 19 assists), putting him on pace for a career-high 57 points in his fourth season in the NHL.
"I've got to keep getting better," he said. "I am still a lot of potential and can be a lot better player than I am now. I've got to every year be better and work hard on the ice. I'm a two-way [defenseman], I've got to do all the things out there, so I've got to be better defensively and for sure I need to score more. Only [two goals] this year. A lot of opportunity and shots, so that's the one thing: I've got to find a way how to score."
He has fixed one impediment to scoring by going back to the sticks he used last season. He switched them over the summer, wanting to try something new, and they had seemed to work. He had no problems while training, no problems during the World Cup of Hockey 2016 playing for Team Finland. But when he arrived in Buffalo, the sticks would not stop breaking, sometimes two or three a game.
It had gotten in his head, making him worry every time he shot the puck that they might break. As he said, "Then you start worrying about, should I pass more?"
That is no longer his concern, though he still mourns a few of the lost chances he had.
For now, his focus is on the future, on the Sabres continued improvement, on his own continued improvement. It has not been an easy season for the Sabres, who thought they were bound for the Stanley Cup Playoffs before being sidetracked by a series of injuries.
But Ristolainen said he thinks there is hope ahead.
"For sure I want to be the top [defenseman] on the Sabres for a long time and then League-wise I want to be one of the best [defensemen] out there one day," Ristolainen said. "The other thing I want to be: I want to be a winner. I want to be the guy who you can win with. I want to win the Stanley Cup here in Buffalo. That's my dream and my goal."

They get the point
The points are piling up - at least in the Metropolitan Division, that is.
The Atlantic Division has been on a normal pace, but the Metropolitan has been on a historic run; The Pittsburgh Penguins had a seven-game win streak, the Philadelphia Flyers won 10 in a row and the Columbus Blue Jackets will go for their franchise record 10th consecutive victory against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.
And that doesn't even include the New York Rangers (7-3-0 in their past 10 games) and the Washington Capitals (6-3-1).
The two teams positioned in the wild card spots in the Eastern Conference are both Metropolitan teams; the Capitals and Flyers; Philadelphia has 42 points in 34 games and Washington has 41 in 30. That means it's more and more likely both wild cards could come out of that division, leaving the Atlantic teams fighting for three slots.
After the Montreal Canadiens, who have 44 points, the next two teams in the division have 39 (Ottawa Senators) and 37 points (Boston Bruins), with the rest of the division tightly bunched on their heels: the Tampa Bay Lightning (33), Florida Panthers (33), Detroit Red Wings (32), Toronto Maple Leafs (31) and Sabres (31).
"I think we're aware of what's going on," Bruins center Patrice Bergeron said. "We know that most of the teams in that division are playing good hockey right now and have a lot of points. They're definitely up there in the standings, so that's a huge challenge for us to stay in the top three and [keep] winning games, especially against our division."

Or risk being on the outside, looking in, at the end of the season.

Stat Pack

The Red Wings are No. 1 in the NHL with four shootout wins. Four teams have won three shootouts. … With a shutout against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday, Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask tied Minnesota Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk for the most this season with four. … Half of the Atlantic teams are struggling to score, with four of the division's teams in the bottom seven in scoring. The Panthers are 24th in the NHL (2.34 goals per game), the Red Wings 26th (2.31), the Bruins 27th and (2.30), and the Sabres 28th (2.17).

Games to watch

Detroit Red Wings at Tampa Bay Lightning (Dec. 20, 7:30 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, SUN, FS-D, NHL.TV) -- With the way the teams in the Metropolitan are playing, there might be no playoff spot left for some unlucky Atlantic teams, with Tampa Bay and Detroit two of the teams outside looking in right now.
Buffalo Sabres at New York Islanders (Dec. 23, 7 p.m. ET; MSG+, MSG-B, NHL.TV) -- Though the Sabres will have played the Islanders one week earlier, this is the more notable trip, given it marks the first time Kyle Okposo will return to the home of the team where he spent his first nine seasons.
Toronto Maple Leafs at Arizona Coyotes (Dec. 23, 9 p.m. ET; FS-A, SNO, NHL.TV) -- Auston Matthews already has gotten to play against his hometown Coyotes, on Dec. 15, but this marks his first trip to his home state as an NHL player. Expect quite a reception.
Montreal Canadiens at Pittsburgh Penguins (Dec. 31, 7 p.m. ET; CBC, CITY, TVA Sports, ROOT, NHL.TV) -- Before you head out on the town, catch this matchup of two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, and a possible Eastern Conference Final matchup.
Detroit Red Wings at Toronto Maple Leafs (Jan. 1, 3 p.m. ET; NBC, SN, TVA Sports) -- The Scotiabank NHL Centennial Classic will take place at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto in a clash between two storied franchises on New Year's Day. It's one of the can't-miss dates on the hockey calendar.