Winning Thoughts: Blue Jackets win another home thriller

After CBJ wins, we'll give three takeaways about what stood out or what we'll remember from the Blue Jackets victory.

BLUE JACKETS 6, BLUES 4

1. The Blue Jackets extended their NHL lead for goals at home to 86.

All season long the Blue Jackets have loved to play at Nationwide Arena. With a record of 13-5-3 and a league high in goals scored, their play at home has kept them firmly in the playoff race throughout the first half of the season.

“The fans are awesome. We love playing in front of them. They're great,” Adam Fantilli said after notching his eighth goal of the season in front of a sellout crowd. “They show it every night. I'm sure when the guys are at home … there's a level of comfortability, but fans are great. We love coming out and playing in front of the fans.”

Their power play has helped feed into the offensive production at Nationwide Arena. They currently sit at third in the league for power-play percentage at home at 31.6 percent and have scored a goal on the man advantage in 11 of the last 14 games overall as well as 10 straight home contests.

In large part because of their successes at home, they exit play tonight tied on points for the second wild card spot in the East.

“They know when they come in the dressing room every night for a game, we have a chance to win,” head coach Dean Evason said. “Hopefully at the end of the day, we'll take that first step, which we've talked about, of making the playoffs.”

2. Zach Werenski continued his dominance at Nationwide Arena.

After a pair of assists against St. Louis, Werenski now has recorded a point in 15 straight home games, the longest such streak in the NHL since Ray Bourque in 1992-93. His 12-33-45 line places him second in the NHL for points by a defenseman and second for goals by a defenseman, and his 33 points at home are third for all NHL skaters on home ice, behind only Nathan MacKinnon (35) and Connor McDavid (34).

On a highlight-reel play against the Blues, he recorded the primary helper on Fantilli’s third period goal to make the score 4-1. His stretch pass from behind Elvis Merzlikins’ net to the far side blueline showcased his vision and skill to be able to make such plays.

“That's something I've talked to him about before, where if he's behind the net and one of their D changes, I'm going to take off and try to get the pass on the outside,” Fantilli said. “We talked about it maybe two weeks or three weeks ago, and I think once I saw him come around the net, we both kind of remembered that. I went for it, and he put it right on my tape. It was perfect.”

It seems every game that the Blue Jackets have played this season, Werenski has had some highlight that stands out. That’s especially true of late, as Werenski has 13 points (one goal, 12 assists) in the last six games.

“I know I'm not articulate enough to explain or to say how great a player and/or a person he is,” Evason said. “He's so, so good offensively, but he's also fantastic defensively, and he's a pro.”

3. The Blue Jackets were rewarded for sticking with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

However, in this instance it was not the play on the ice that made Evason stick with his 11/7 lineup, but an important life-changing event for forward Kevin Labanc.

“Labanc was supposed to play tonight, but his wife's having a baby,” Evason said. “Still waiting for the update.”

But it’s also hard to mess with success. Since Dec. 23, the Blue Jackets have played six straight games with seven defensemen and 11 forwards, as rookie Denton Mateychuk has earned a spot on the NHL roster and Evason wanted to give more playing time to the top of his forward group.

This decision has paid off for the head coach, with the Jackets going 4-2-0 in the games since the change. They have scored four or more goals in five of the six games.