It seems like all of their luck has dried up. The Columbus Blue Jackets controlled play for much of their game against the New Jersey Devils last night, only to drop their fourth consecutive game. With 6 losses in their last 7 games, their playoff hopes are now looking pretty slim.
The Jackets went into the third period down 2-0, in spite of a 22-17 shots advantage. It seems to be their luck as of late, with the Devils capitalizing on a long shift by Dante Fabbro just more than halfway through the second. Fabbro was heading to the bench for the change, but the puck wasn't sent deep enough into the Devils end, resulting in a quick rush by Timo Meier to open the scoring.
Just 39 seconds later, a long dump in from the Devils eluded CBJ goaltender Jet Greaves behind the net; jumping off of the dasher and bouncing right to a rushing Jesper Bratt. Bratt quickly fired the puck into the vacated net, making it a 2-0 game. Two goals in 39 seconds was all the Devils needed on this night.
Devils goaltender Jake Allen stood on his head, playing one of the best games of his entire NHL career. Through two periods, he looked sharp. In the third period, he looked elite. The Jackets poured it on offensively, controlling the puck for nearly the entire period and putting 24 shots on net.
Allen stopped 23 of them, giving the Devils a 2-1 win at Nationwide Arena. Mathieu Olivier scored the lone Blue Jackets goal at 13:24 off of a rush play. With the puck bouncing through traffic, Justin Danforth tied up a Devils stick and allowed Zach Aston-Reese's pass to make it to the wide open Olivier in front. This ended a goalless drought at home of 174:32, the second longest in franchise history.
First home #CBJ goal in 174:32 by Mathieu Olivier. The franchise record stands at 178:48. Four minutes away from infamy.
— Mark Scheig (@mark_scheig) March 18, 2025
Olivier now has 3 of the last 4 Blue Jackets goals, spread out over four games. While I love the player, this is very concerning for a team still learning how to properly defend. The top end of their offense has seemingly completely dried up for them after a season where it's carried them along. As a result, they're just 2-6-0 in the month of March.
A learning experience for the young guys?
At this point, it's going to be really tough for this team to make the playoffs. Not impossible, but very difficult. They have 15 games left, and will need to scour the pan for at least 22 points while not giving up too many three point games.
With the games only getting tougher down the stretch, it's hard to see this year being their year of destiny. But, it's also hard to call it a lost cause. There is a lot for them to take away from this season, and the reality of the situation is that none of us expected them to by in this position, this late in the campaign.
The remaining 15 games will essentially be playoff games. This is a valuable stretch of time for the Blue Jackets, regardless the results as the regular season winds down. Maybe they will surprise us and put together a stretch of wins, thrusting themselves into a playoff seed. But, even if not, these games will matter to players like Kirill Marchenko, Adam Fantilli, Kent Johnson, and on down the lineup.
They're learning what it is going to take to have success in this league, when the games are meaningful and the opposition are matching their best players against them. They have to go through these experiences and learn them at some point. It may as well be in a year where they have exceeded most expectations.
The Blue Jackets have moved the bar higher this year. My hope is that next year, it's pushed even further, and this team can use this experience - and its sting - to vault itself into true contention.