The best in the East?

An early look at the NHL standings reveals an interesting trend contrary to past years.

The Southeast division is currently looking to be the most competitive and strongest division in the Eastern Conference. Typically this division is the butt of all my hockey jokes, but even the normally woeful Thrashers are looking good early this season. In fact, Atlanta is the 3rd best team by winning percentage (as of this writing), sitting at 4-1-0, right behind the 7-1-0 Rangers and Penguins.

But enough about Atlanta, Alex Ovechkin has been on an absolute tear, even setting himself up to have 50 goals well before 50 games at this pace. His Capitals even lead the division, though they've played three more games than Atlanta.

Tampa Bay and Carolina are currently tied, and are both over .500 at home, though neither team has won on the road this season. The bottom of the division is the Florida Panthers, and while they have had a poor showing this season, they are still the strongest last-in-division team in the east at the moment, as neither the Islanders or Maple Leafs have won a game yet.

So what can be credited for this turnaround? Atlanta's high picks finally playing? The Capitals managing secondary scoring? Who knows. At the least it should prove to be something exciting to follow this season.