On the final day of the 48-game strike-shortened season last year, the Columbus Blue Jackets missed the playoffs because of a tiebreaker after finishing even with the eighth-seeded Wild. Their remarkable playoff run fell just short, but the future looked bright.
But a slow start this year – they were 6-10-3 at one point – and key injuries, including to last year’s Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky and former Ranger Marian Gaborik, made the outlook grim. However, Columbus has won seven games in a row and would be in the playoffs if they started today.
Their top three leading scorers are Ran Johansen (18 goals and 36 points – both career highs), Brandon Dubinsky (32 points in 42 games, on pace for a career high) and defenseman James Wisniewski (among the league leaders in scoring for defenseman). With just over 30 games to go, the Blue Jackets look to avoid last season’s fate and make the playoffs for the first time in five seasons — and just the second time in franchise history.
(Last week’s rankings in parentheses)
1) Ducks (1): Their remarkable run of not losing a home game in regulation this season ended at 22 with Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to the Jets. Anaheim had been 20-0-2, but they’re still the best team in the league.
2) Blackhawks (4): They may not be getting as much attention as other teams, but weekend wins against the Ducks and Bruins reminded everyone who’s the champions.
3) Penguins (3): Had won 13 home games in a row before Monday’s surprising 5-1 loss to the Panthers, but still are tied for most home wins in the league with 20.
4) Sharks (7): They may not catch the Ducks in the Pacific Division, but San Jose has started to roll, winning four straight, thanks to Joe Pavelski and his six goals in the past three games.
5) Blues (2): No time to panic, but the Blues have allowed 15 goals in their past four games.
6) Bruins (8): Tough back-to-back against the Blackhawks and Kings, but taking three of four points against the past two Stanley Cup Champs was impressive.
7) Avalanche (5): First overall draft pick Nathan McKinnon has 17 goals and 33 points. Looks like the Avs made the right choice taking him over Seth Jones.
8) Lightning (6): Bypassed by the Canadian Olympic team by his own general manager, Martin St. Louis has responded with eight goals in eight games and was the NHL’s top star last week.
9) Canadiens (10): Montreal has scored six more goals than it’s allowed, but remains within striking distance of the Atlantic Division-leading Bruins (six points back).
10) Kings (9): Los Angeles is really struggling, and its next two games are against the red-hot Ducks.
11) Wild (14): It’s gut-check time for the Wild, who face the Blackhawks, Sharks, Ducks and Avalanche. Just another week in the stacked Western Conference.
12) Rangers (13): Had only allowed two goals in three games before a 5-3 loss to the Islanders on Tuesday. But have still won six of eight.
13) Maple Leafs (18): The streakiest team in the league has six wins in a row as they try to distance themselves from the pack in the wild-card hunt.
14) Senators (16): Ottawa plays its next three games on the road, but that’s just fine by them. They are 4-0-1 in their past five games away from home.
15) Flyers (11): It’s only fair that they blew a two-goal third period lead in a loss to the Islanders on Monday after coming back in the third period two nights earlier in Philadelphia, right?
16) Canucks (12): Vancouver beat the Oilers in its first game since coach John Tortorella was suspended without pay for 15 days.
17) Blue Jackets (23): They’ve moved from last place in the Metropolitan Division to just three points out of second place.
18) Devils (19): Tuesday may have been a snow day for some, but not the Devils, who showed up and dominated the Blues at Prudential Center, 7-1.
19) Stars (17): Nice shutout win against the Wild on Tuesday night — just their second in 11 games in 2014.
20) Islanders (22): Came back from two two-goal deficits in Tuesday’s 5-3 win over the Rangers and a 3-1 third period deficit in Monday’s 4-3 shootout win over the Flyers. They have won nine of their past 11 road games.
21) Red Wings (20): Talk about a double-whammy: Detroit has scored four goals in four games, and will be without starting goalie Jimmy Howard for at least a week due to a knee injury.
22) Capitals (15): Surprised that the Capitals were shut out Tuesday without Alex Ovechkin in the lineup? Me either. But six straight losses, while scoring seven goals, qualifies as surprising.
23) Coyotes (21): Phoenix won two straight last week for the first time in more than a month thanks to Mike Smith, who stopped 62 of 64 shots.
24) Predators (25): David Legwand has one goal and seven points in four games for the Predators, who are 3-1-0 over that stretch.
25) Jets (27): The Jets have certainly responded to last week’s coaching change, winning all four games since then, including a 3-2 win on the road in Anaheim on Tuesday.
26) Panthers (26): Put up a combined nine goals Monday and Tuesday after scoring nine in their previous five.
27) Hurricanes (24): It’s pretty disheartening when you outshoot your opponent 51-24 but still lose the game 5-3. That’s what happened Sunday against the Lightning.
28) Flames (29): The Flames are on their fourth losing streak of four games or more this season. Wouldn’t be surprising if Bob Hartley doesn’t make it through Calgary’s upcoming five-game homestand.
29) Oilers (30): Currently on their fourth losing streak of five games or more. Not even acquiring (another) goalie has helped: Ben Scrivens is 0-2-0 since coming over from the Kings.
30) Sabres (28): Have lost four in a row at home since a five-game winning streak at First Niagara Center. Buffalo has also been involved in seven consecutive one-goal games.