The Columbus Blue Jackets were in second place after Tuesday night's win against the Philadelphia Flyers. Five days and three games later, it feels like their house of cards is crashing down. Spectacularly.
First, the team could not find its offense against the Canadiens in Montreal. They played a solid game defensively, but were nowhere near cohesive with the puck en route to a 2-1 loss. It was an off night for this team. It happens.
What can't happen, is having that turn into a two or three game stretch of off nights. Spoiler alert: it did. The Jackets returned to Columbus for a back-to-back homestand this weekend. With a playoff spot within reach, we knew Nationwide would be hopping.
The team came home and...promptly fell flat on their faces.
Saturday night's game against San Jose was easily one of the worst games this team played all season. The Jackets scored early. They scored again to regain the lead in the second, despite being heavily outplayed by one of the youngest teams in the league.
But again, they could not find their offense. Not even against one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL. And worse, they also forgot how to defend, ultimately coughing up a late game-winning goal that kept them from even earning a single point.
Fast forward to tonight against the Boston Bruins. It felt like part of the reason this team lost yesterday was because they were looking ahead to this game. If you saw the start of this one, that theory definitely tracks.
The Blue Jackets built up a 3-0 lead over the Bruins, out-shooting them 12-8 in the first period. They scored with a great shot. They scored with a deflection. For the love of all things mighty, they even scored a power-play goal.
Then, they rewarded the crowd by completely giving up. They were out-shot by the Bruins by a 30-12 margin over the next 45 minutes (including overtime), ultimately choking away that 3-0 lead-mind you, one they still had with less than 14 minutes remaining-and lost in a shootout.
Unacceptable.
— Union and Blue (@UnionAndBlue) March 30, 2026
The Jackets were out-shot 30-12 after the first period of this game. They gave up 3 goals in the third period and lost in a shootout.
That probably seals their fate for the year. #CBJ https://t.co/XM6QXdRln3
For a team whose history of success includes only a smattering of first-round playoff appearances, and one "legendary" sweep of a President's Trophy winner; this weekend's efforts on home ice might have been one of the biggest gut punches to this fanbase that we have ever been given. That's saying a lot.
Was one day in second place the peak of this team's season?
Just when we thought they were ready to push into a playoff spot, and give us the first real shot at contention in this organization's history, they have fallen flat and seemingly quit for the season. The perception on my end is that spending a day in second place gave this group the impression that their job was done.
I'm not sure where they go from here, but one thing is certain: the effort we saw this weekend isn't good enough. The 5th Line deserves better. Six years without a playoff game is long enough in Central Ohio. They have 8 games left to figure it out.