Everything that could go right for the Blue Jackets went right. On Tuesday night, they not only won a pivotal road game-they got a lot of help on the out of town scoreboard. As a result, they are in rare territory in franchise history.
The evening did not start that way. The Jackets played a lackluster first period in Philadelphia, finding themselves down 1-0 at the end of the first period, and with a huge disadvantage in nearly every stat category.
But during the first intermission, something changed. They came out and left their funk behind in the second period, scoring twice in the first 2:28 to take the lead. After that point, this game was never in doubt.
Zach Werenski started it all, jumping into the rush and creating the first goal. He fed Mathieu Olivier, who fired a terrific shot past Dan Vladar. Then, Zach doubled down a couple of shifts later, finding time and space high in the slot before firing home a terrific shot of his own.
The Jackets smothered the Flyers for most of the balance of the game. Mason Marchment extended the lead early in the third with (you guessed it) a terrific shot past Vladar, making it a 3-1 game.
The Flyers would get a late push in the third period and make it a 3-2 game, but the Blue Jackets were able to lock it down and come away with the win. Big tip of the cap to the defense, and particularly Jet Greaves. He made some huge saves in this game.
Everything fell into place around them.
The Jackets did their job and picked up two points. In a tough road environment, against a team fighting for their own playoff lives, they found a way. But the best news of the night may have been on the out of town scoreboard.
Almost every rooting interest for the Blue Jackets worked out in their favor. Boston lost to Toronto. Detroit lost to Ottawa-who jumped over them in the standings. The Islanders and Penguins lost to the Blackhawks and Avalanche.
The result: Columbus just passed by Pittsburgh in the standings, and now sits in second place in the Metropolitan Division. This is rare territory for this team. It's a position they haven't held this late in the season since 2017-the only other time they were in this spot.
With last night's action coming to a close, they now have an almost-90% chance of making the playoffs. This is not something we would have expected at the turn of the calendar.
Kudos to Rick Bowness for saving this team's season. I'm excited to see how far he can take this group.