The Blue Jackets host the Boston Bruins tonight in what can only be described as a must win game. After losing three of their last four games in regulation, the Jackets have seen their playoff odds nearly cut in half.
The best adjective I can find to describe last night's CBJ loss to the San Jose Sharks: abysmal. Maybe you would prefer unacceptable. Either would be a good descriptor for a team that played flat, timid, and wilted under pressure. It was not good enough.
Yeah that's a terrible loss.
— Union and Blue (@UnionAndBlue) March 28, 2026
Honestly one of the most disappointing games all year. This team needs to do some soul searching tonight. #CBJ
They will need to step their game up about three notches higher tonight. They take on a Bruins team that is coming off of a big win against the Minnesota Wild last night-their fourth win in five games.
The Opponent
Boston sits one seed ahead of the Blue Jackets in the Eastern Conference standings, with a 41-24-8 record (90 points). Just three points separate these two teams, so it's not hard to see the importance of this one. A regulation loss makes that gap 5 points. A regulation win closes it to 1 point.
As I said at the top: this one is crucial. It won't be easy. Boston has elite talent at every position, with David Pastrnak's 92 points (29 goals) leading the way. He's 6th in the league in scoring, leading his team by exactly 30 points.
That's the kind of season that should earn him some Hart Trophy love, in my opinion-more than he is getting. The Bruins are led in goals by Morgan Geekie (34-28-62), while Pavel Zacha (56 points) and star defenseman Charlie McAvoy (55 points) round out their top-4 in scoring.
In goal, they feature one of the game's very best: Jeremy Swayman. He started yesterday against the Wild, so it will be interesting to see if head coach Marco Sturm turns to him on the second half of a back-to-back. If not, the Jackets will see a familiar face: Joonas Korpisalo is his backup.
Overall, Boston has the 9th ranked offense (243 goals for) and 20th ranked defense (224 goals against) in the NHL. This is a very good team, one that works hard on both sides of the puck and is very deserving of their position in the standings. They are no fluke.
The Good Guys
Are the Blue Jackets coming unraveled right before our eyes? They might be. For four straight games, they have looked very pedestrian, with yesterday's effort being arguably one of their worst of the entire season.
It's possible that they are running out of gas. I'm honestly really interested to see what they look like this afternoon, because we are going to see just how deep they can dig. Defensively, they have been mostly good (though yesterday was not good), but offensively it's been a mess.
In their last four games, they have scored just six goals. That's not going to cut it. No matter how good they are defensively, or how good their goaltending is, they aren't scoring enough to win. They have deserved the results they've gotten.
Hopefully, they can get back on track tonight. There will be at least a couple of lineup changes from yesterday. Dmitri Voronkov left with what looked like a hand injury. He will not play tonight, and will be re-evaluated tomorrow. I will also be interested to see if Rick Bowness turns back to Jake Christiansen, who only played 9:43 yesterday-or, will Egor Zamula draw in?
#CBJ head coach Rick Bowness said Dmitri Voronkov (upper body) will be re-evaluated Monday after leaving this evening’s game vs. San Jose. He will not play tomorrow vs. Boston.
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) March 29, 2026
Meanwhile, expect to see Jet Greaves in goal. Bones saved him for the second half of the back-to-back, and they are going to need him to be on his game right away tonight.
Three Keys to Success
1. Score some goals. The Jackets started really well yesterday, with Denton Mateychuk finding the back of the net early-and through a screen, no less. We talked about the importance of traffic, and that was what we meant. But, they were unable to build upon that, and were pretty easily shut down for the rest of the game.
2. Pasta. David Pastrnak has had a hand in 38% of the offense for the Bruins this year. Much like Macklin Celebrini yesterday, shutting him down is the key to winning this game. They failed yesterday, so hopefully they learned their lesson for tonight.
3. Fight for your playoff lives. There are only 9 games left, including tonight. The Jackets really need to win 6 of them. There is no more time to work on things, they have to find a way tonight.
This is the second of three meetings between these two teams this season. Boston won the first one, 4-2 back on February 26th. They will finish the season series on April 12th, the penultimate game of the season for the Blue Jackets.
This game is another early puck drop, scheduled for just after 5:00 Eastern time. Let's go Jackets!