It’s a hard stat to believe.

The Maple Leafs have never won an Atlantic Division title and have only won any type of division title twice in the last 87 years: the one-and-done Canadian Division in 2020-21 and the Northeast Division in 1999-00. Dominating the regular season has not, historically, been what they do.

Opportunity knocks this season, however.

After another convincing win over the New York Rangers on Thursday night, the Leafs have won three in a row and sit tied atop the division with the Florida Panthers with 87 points in 69 games.

“We are back to our identity,” Leafs coach Craig Berube said of the win streak after the game. “That is what I see.”

The Panthers own the first tiebreaker (regulation wins), but Toronto gained ground there, picking up its 34th regulation win to sit only one back of Florida. At the moment, the Leafs comfortably hold the second tiebreaker (regulation and overtime wins).

The Tampa Bay Lightning, meanwhile, sit only 2 points back of both teams with one game in hand and 34 regulation wins.

With the Leafs, Panthers and Lightning all on pace for 103 points, it’s likely the Atlantic is going to come down to the final few days of the regular season. Every game is going to matter.

The Leafs’ two games against the Panthers will obviously be critical to any hopes of winning the division, as that’s a 4-point swing if those games end in regulation.

Toronto has struggled against Florida’s physicality and relentless forecheck the past few years, with the Leafs winning only three times in their last 11 meetings and being outscored 35-23 in those games.

The good news for the Leafs, however, is their remaining schedule is notably easier than Florida’s. In fact, the Leafs have the fifth easiest strength of schedule left in the NHL based on opponents’ points percentage, with the average team they will face on pace for just 86 points. The Leafs have done a great job this year of beating non-playoff teams, and they’ll have a chance over the next week, in particular, to pile up points against some of the worst teams in the league.

Here’s a look at the top five teams in the Atlantic standings, with strength of schedule (SOS) in the far right column.

What will be challenging about the Leafs’ remaining schedule is the travel and the three back-to-backs left. Beginning Saturday in Nashville, Toronto has to play 11 times in 23 days in eight different cities. They’ll travel from Tennessee, back to Toronto, then to California, then Toronto, then Florida, then home again before going to North Carolina in that span.

It’s not Western Conference travel, but it’s a lot of bouncing around.

The saving grace might be that they end the season with what should be two relatively easy games against the likely-to-be-eliminated Sabres and Red Wings. But it’s possible the Leafs will need those points in order to win the division and avoid the deadly 2-3 matchup in the Atlantic that has ended so many of their recent seasons over the past eight years. Resting battered bodies may not be an option.

That the Leafs have been rounding back into form — soundly outplaying the Flames and Rangers and finding a way to come out on top against the powerhouse Avalanche this week — bodes well for this next span of games.

“We’ve been through a lot, travel-wise,” John Tavares told reporters after Thursday’s game of their struggles leading into this week. “We had some games late that didn’t go our way that could have. … That easily can allow you to tighten up a little bit, but it was a great start to the week as a team with a lot of different guys leading the way over the last few nights.”

“Momentum’s a nice thing to have in this league,” added Jake McCabe, who has been excellent of late. “A couple weeks ago, we didn’t have that momentum. We didn’t have that confidence. We needed that little tough stretch to make us better and look ourselves in the mirror a little bit and ask for more from each and every one of us. I think we’ve done that and responded well.”

The Leafs go into this final 13-game stretch with a 34 percent chance of winning the division (compared to 41 percent for Florida and 25 for Tampa) so there’s certainly still a lot to play for.

If they keep playing like this, history just might be made.