It feels like the Blue Jackets may be stuck in their own version of Groundhog Day.
In three of the last four games, Columbus led in the third period, only to watch Detroit, Toronto and Pittsburgh tie the score in the final frame then go on to win in overtime.
Add in last Monday’s regulation loss at Washington and the Blue Jackets head to New Jersey for tonight’s game against the Devils on a four-game losing streak – though they’ve gained three points in that span.
It could be six, though, if the Columbus had been able to close out those three games, and the Blue Jackets have grown tired of living the same result over and over again. Yet if you ask someone like alternate captain Zach Werenski, it hasn’t turned into a “here we go again” type of situation as the final minutes come off the clock.
“I don’t really have that feeling to be honest,” Werenski said. “It’s not like in the third we feel that way – at least I don’t. You can ask the guys in the room, but I feel like we’re fine. We’re just not getting it done. So yeah, it’s frustrating.”
The points left on the table have dropped the Blue Jackets to last place in the Metropolitan Division, though they’re only seven points out of first place, five behind third-place Philadelphia and just two behind the fifth-place Penguins and Islanders, who share the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot at the moment.
While the last week or so has been frustrating to the Blue Jackets, the good news is that if they can clean up what has ailed them, the playoff race remains squarely in the picture.
“We’re right there,” Charlie Coyle said. “I don’t look at the standings too much right now because it’s so tight that you feel like every day you’re (up) here or (down) there, in the playoffs, out of the playoffs. But we’re right in the mix, and there’s other teams going through stuff too. We just have to use it to our advantage and you learn and grow from it. You correct it more quickly than others can and you keep going from there.”
At a time when frustration could be setting in, head coach Dean Evason and his staff convened a high-energy Sunday practice that included plenty of puck touches and chances to put the puck in the net, which also felt like a priority considering the Blue Jackets have averaged 2.17 goals in the last six games.
The goal was to get the players to have some fun and some confidence heading into Monday’s key Metropolitan matchup.
“You have to stick together,” Evason said. “That’s the bottom line is that we’re all in it together. It’s not just the players, it’s not just the coaches, it's not just the managers, it's all of us. It's the Columbus Blue Jackets are in this together. We’re still in a really good spot where we’re at. We’re collecting points, which is very, very positive. Do we want more points? Do we want more, obviously, wins? Yes, of course.
“But we’re going to do it together. We’re going to get out of whatever it is we’re in and move forward, and we’re going to do it as a team. as an organization. We believe that our group will stick together, the guys on the ice, not only that but our team off the ice as well will stick together and get the job done.”
