Thankfully, nobody had misplaced the donkey hat or the ABBA playlist.
When an NHL team loses, the locker room is a quiet place. On the road, players quickly pack their bags, go through their postgame routine, put on their dress clothes and shuffle in silence to the bus for the trip to the next city.
But after a win, spirits are much higher. For the Blue Jackets this season, that means celebrating with the postgame player of the game honor, the donkey hat, and cranking some Swedish classics in the locker room before a much happier ride to the airport.
After a six-game losing streak, the hat and the music were back in full force on Long Island on Monday night. Columbus battled back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to take a 4-3 win over the Islanders in a shootout, earning two critical points that leave the Blue Jackets just two back of the final wild card spot with 12 games to play.
“It’s great,” captain Boone Jenner said. “Obviously, the last little bit here, we’ve not had the results, but we’ve played some good hockey. To get the result is huge for us, and hopefully we can just continue on with that and run with it here obviously. It feels great to come in and get those two points and hear the music again.”
It would have been particularly tough to fly home on the losing end considering the Blue Jackets had three days off between games. It was a welcome respite in what’s about to become a packed schedule to finish the season, as Columbus will play its final 12 contests in a 21-day window.
The marathon of the season has become a sprint, and the Blue Jackets can head into tonight’s game against Vancouver at Nationwide Arena with some momentum.
“There was a good feeling in the room after,” head coach Dean Evason said when the team got back on the ice with an optional practice Wednesday. “It’s certainly nice to see the smiles, even though we’ve talked about us playing well. Yeah, the result is key, obviously, especially this time of year. It’s nice to get points, and we’re fortunate to get a couple the other night.”
The key now is not to squander the good vibes. The ice-cold sticks that had marked the losing streak – Columbus had just one goal in a four-game span – have thawed, with the Blue Jackets getting a trio of goals in each of the last two games. The possession and scoring chance analytics show Columbus has been doing a lot of the right things in recent contests without getting the wins, but this time of year, nothing feels better than hearing that postgame music.
Know The Foe: Vancouver Canucks
Head coach: Rick Tocchet (Third season)
Team stats: Goals per game: 2.82 (23rd) | Scoring defense: 3.03 (20th) | PP: 21.9 percent (15th) | PK: 82.7 percent (4th)
The narrative: Tocchet has brought a measure of stability to a franchise that seemed to be foundering for a while, as Vancouver made the playoffs just once from 2016-23 before getting to the second round last year in his first full season. Tocchet is 104-61-25 since taking over the Canucks, but injuries to key players Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes and the midseason trade of J.T. Miller have hurt the team down the stretch. The Canucks are on the outside looking in for a playoff spot right now, three points behind the red-hot Blues.
Team leaders: Coming off of last season’s dominant Norris Trophy-winning campaign, Hughes is again filling up the scoresheet. Despite missing 14 games to injury, Hughes leads Vancouver in scoring and is third among all NHL defensemen – just behind Zach Werenski – with 68 points (16 goals, 52 assists) in 58 games. Up front, Pettersson is the top scorer with a 15-30-45 line but has returned home from the road trip with an injury. Brock Boeser (23-21-44), Conor Garland (18-25-43) and Jake DeBrusk (23-19-42) are next up in points.
In net, Thatcher Demko missed the first two months of the season with injury and has played just 19 games, going 8-6-3 with a 2.82 GAA and .892 save percentage. Kevin Lankinen first season in Vancouver has been a good one, as the Finn has started 44 games and is 24-14-8 with a 2.59 GAA and .901 save percentage.
What's new: The Canucks have been through plenty of ups and downs this year, with the injuries and blockbuster trade of Miller – who still leads the team with 26 goals – to the Rangers making it hard for the squad to get in any rhythm. The inconsistencies have continued of late, as Vancouver is 5-4-1 in its last 10 games, though the Canucks are coming off consecutive wins at New Jersey and the New York Islanders. Forwards Filip Chytil – who came over in the Miller deal – and Nils Hoglander are also out with injuries, continuing the theme of the season.
Trending: Columbus dropped the opening game of the season series Dec. 6 in Vancouver, as the Canucks rallied to score five unanswered goals in a 5-2 final. The Blue Jackets have won four in a row in the series in Nationwide Arena.
Former CBJ: There are no former Blue Jackets on the squad, but Columbus native Kiefer Sherwood has had a memorable season, posting a 17-15-32 line and setting a new NHL single-season record with 404 hits.
