Another Key Stretch To Determine If The Columbus Blue Jackets Are Serious Playoff Contenders

It was a key stretch. When it began, the Blue Jackets were on the outside of a mess of an Eastern Conference playoff race. Nine teams were within five points of the top wild card spot, with only one team (the Buffalo Sabres) truly on the outs.

Columbus was 17-17-6 heading into the crucial two-week period. In such a close race, it wasn't so much about "getting ahead" as much as it was about not falling behind. That was going to mean the Blue Jackets needed to win, in theory, at least four of the seven games, and ideally, winning five to get 10 of the 14 possible points.

Mission accomplished.

The Blue Jackets went 5-1-1, dropping the last two games in New York against the Rangers and Islanders but managing at least one point in the two-game skid.

Still, gaining 11 of the 14 possible points was a motivator for the franchise and the players. It was propelled by a six-game win streak, their longest of the decade. In other words, it reaffirmed what the belief in the locker room already was: that the Blue Jackets are a serious contender in the playoff race.

After winning two of three last week following the conclusion of the seven-game stretch, the Blue Jackets find themselves tied for the final wild card spot in the East. The Tampa Bay Lightning are the technical owners of the spot, with one fewer game played and thus a higher point percentage.

Just one point ahead of the Lightning and Blue Jackets are the Bruins, who have the first wild card spot. Even then, they're tied with the Ottawa Senators for third in the Atlantic Division. 

The top three teams in each division are automatically in the playoffs.

The mess gets messier: just behind Columbus are five teams within four points, including one (the Islanders) on a five-game winning streak.

The only team that fell out of the race (at least for now) is the Pittsburgh Penguins. They've lost three straight, sit at 48 points, and have played more games than any of the teams above them who are on the outside looking in. Even so, it's never safe to truly count out a team with multiple future Hall-of-Famers.

And so here we go again: another burst of games that will continue to paint a picture of how the season will unfold.

This time, though, it's different.

Rather than facing teams near the bottom of the standings and all of them being relatively close to home, the Blue Jackets find themselves with a four-game road trip across all four time zones and two against teams who are bonafide Stanley Cup contenders.

Here's what Columbus has on the schedule leading into the Four Nations Face Off:

The six games before the break is a mix of winnable games, stretch wins, and total toss-ups. 

Let's piece it together:

• Much their back-to-back last week in Toronto and Carolina, winning one of the two in Vegas and Dallas would be considered a victory. 
   
• The Sabres always seem to be a weird game for the Blue Jackets. Over the last three seasons, they've scored nine, given up nine, won games they shouldn't have, and lost games they shouldn't have. Let's group that in with the set of Utah games and say that ideally, winning two of those three would be considered a positive.
   
• That's 3-2-0 heading into the final game before the break, a Saturday night home affair against the Rangers. Because .500 hockey won't be good enough to make the postseason, we'll call that a must-win.

That would put the Blue Jackets at eight out of 12 points, which would bump their season-end pace up to 92, from its current projection of 90.

Last season, the Washington Capitals got in over the Detroit Red Wings on a tiebreaker with both teams ending at 91 points. The season before that, it took 92 points to get in. Look for that to be about the same this year, though perhaps a few points higher. 

Columbus is going to need to continue what they've been building in recent weeks, and they'll need all the confidence they can get heading into the two-week break for the Four Nations.