Blue Jackets Now Control Their Own Destiny

With a huge 6-2 home win over the Montreal Canadiens on March 28^th, the Columbus Blue Jackets now control their own destiny as far as the playoffs are concerned. The victory allowed them to pull even with the Habs in the Eastern Conference standings at 90 points with Columbus holding a game in hand on Montreal. It was the Blue Jackets’ third straight win with the first two of the week coming by way of shutout.

The Blue Jackets are clinging to the second wild card playoff spot while the Carolina Hurricanes are hanging on to the first position with 91 points and they also have a game in hand on the Canadiens. However, the Hurricanes are trending in the wrong direction with two straight losses against the Washington Capitals this week, giving Montreal some hope.

Even though the NHL season is an 82-game marathon, the Columbus vs Montreal tilt was considered a must-win clash by both clubs. What made the outcome even better for Columbus was the fact they won the game in regulation time rather than gaining just one point on the Canadiens with an overtime or shootout win.

But as mentioned, the Hurricanes certainly aren’t home and dry and could crash out of the race during the last week of the season. Columbus and/or Montreal can’t count on that though and need to take matters in their own hands the rest of the way.

The Blue Jackets wind the campaign down with back-to-back road games in Nashville and Buffalo followed by a home clash against the Boston Bruins and road trips to the Big Apple to face the Rangers and then end up in Ottawa.

The Sabres, Rangers and Senators are out of the playoffs while Nashville is still fighting for first place in the Central Division and the Bruins are close to locking up home ice for their likely playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The worst part of this schedule for Columbus is the fact they have just one home game remaining and four of the five contests are back-to-back sets with both coming on the road.

The Habs have just four games to play. They face the Winnipeg Jets at home followed by another home outing against the Tampa Bay Lightning, a road trip to Washington D.C. to face the Capitals and then end the season at home against their oldest rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs. The good news is that three of the four games are at home. But on the other side of the coin all four teams are headed to the playoffs.

That could either work for or against the Canadiens. The Jets are in a dogfight as they try to hold on to first place in the Central Division so that’s going to be a tough duel. Tampa has already clinched the President’s Trophy as well as the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division for home-ice advantage throughout the postseason. They don’t really have anything to play for at this stage and head coach Jon Cooper may rest some of his stars or cut back on their ice time in this game.

The visit to Washington on April 4^th should also be a tough task since the Capitals are trying to hold off the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins and remain in first place in the Metropolitan Division. The season finale is at home against Toronto and while the Maple Leafs can’t really move up or down the standings they are simply Montreal’s biggest historical rivals and would love nothing more than to be the team to knock them out of the playoff race.

As for the Hurricanes, they host the Philadelphia Flyers then play the next night in Pittsburgh. They then visit Toronto, return home to play the New Jersey Devils and finish the season in Philadelphia. On the bright side, the Devils are out of the playoff race and don’t have much motivation for the rest of the season other than to finish as low as possible for a better chance at the draft lottery. The Leafs aren’t going anywhere and have been struggling defensively for the past couple of weeks.

The Flyers are still mathematically alive at the moment so their March 30^th meeting could be a tough one. But sooner or later Philly will be officially eliminated from the race so the season-finale looks good for the Hurricanes. Their toughest game should be the visit to Pittsburgh as the Penguins are still in the hunt to win the Metropolitan Division.

The Canadiens appear to have the toughest schedule in front of them, but as we all know, anything can happen in a game of hockey.

There’s a lot riding on the Blue Jackets considering they hung on to pending unrestricted free agents Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin at the trade deadline. These two are likely to leave the club for greener pastures on July 1^st, and Columbus could have loaded up by dealing them for draft picks, prospects and established players.

The Blue Jackets didn’t sit still at around trade deadline though as they acquired two more pending free agents in Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel of the Senators. There’s also a chance one or both of these players decides to hightail it out of town this summer. Therefore, Columbus has a lot riding on making the playoffs and it could be considered a failed gamble or simply a disaster if they don’t reach the postseason.

The fact is, just two of Columbus, Montreal and Carolina will be playing after April 6^th. I’d rather be in the Blue Jackets’ shoes at the moment due to their recent play and remaining schedule. As for Carolina and Montreal, I think it’s still a tossup as to who ends the campaign on the outside looking in.