Believe it or not, we are already over a third of the way through the NHL regular season, as the Blue Jackets played game #30 Tuesday night in North Carolina.
Columbus is currently last in the Metropolitan division, but that doesn't tell the whole story. The Blue Jackets currently have a middling 13-11-6 record, totaling 32 points. This point total would place them in the top 5 in every other division, but the Metro isn't every other division.
The Capitals and Hurricanes still lead the way, but every other team in the division isn't far behind. The Islanders, Flyers, and Penguins were all expected to be near the bottom of the standings this deep into the season, but all three have taken solid steps forward this year.
It's no secret that the Blue Jackets are in the most competitive division in hockey, and this has been especially true so far this season. Columbus needs to find a way to separate themselves from the pack. Let's take a look at how well they've been able to do that so far.
The Blue Jackets are still struggling in the third period
I think that any fan who is active in the Blue Jackets community has heard this a thousand times already, but it doesn't make it any less of an issue.
Out of the thirteen losses that Columbus had in November and up to this point in December, eight of them have been by just one goal, and six of them have come in overtime.
Although it's hard to complain about getting a point towards the standings for an overtime loss, you can't hand your opponents an extra point when the division is as close as it is right now. Usually you don't hear this until the end of the season, but every point already matters, and we haven't even hit the new year.
At the end of the day, the Blue Jackets need to play a full, consistent 60 minutes, and they really haven't been able to do that for the majority of the season so far. If this team wants to be competitive in the playoffs, this absolutely has to change, and it needs to start soon.
Jet Greaves is already a star
This shouldn't be too much of a surprise to fans who tuned into the end of last season, but Jet Greaves has established himself as one of the best goalies in the world just 39 games into his NHL career.
I, along with many other Blue Jackets fans, saw Greaves as the Blue Jackets' biggest breakout candidate in the organization, and he has quickly proven that his success was no fluke.
Jet's stats on paper may not jump out at you, as a 2.78 goals against average and a .906 save percentage aren't exactly those of a superstar. But when you look at what he's had to do to even get those numbers that high, you start to notice just how good he has been.
Greaves currently ranks sixth in the entire NHL in goals saved above expected, with a staggering tally of 14.9, which puts him in the top tier of goalies alongside longtime stars like Andrei Vasilevskiy and Igor Shesterkin, among others.
He has been especially dominant on the penalty kill, ranking third among starting goalies in goals saved above expected when shorthanded, which is especially impressive when you notice that the Blue Jackets penalty kill is the fourth worst in the NHL.
Finally, Jet has set the pace for stopping threatening opportunities by opponents, ranking first in the league in save percentage in what MoneyPuck deems "high-danger" scoring chances, stopping 87.1% of those shots, which is almost 20% above what he is expected to have saved.
Despite the Blue Jackets trying to keep the goalie tandem with Greaves and Elvis Merzlikins alive, it's becoming abundantly clear that Jet is the better goalie, and is quickly becoming a name that all NHL fans need to know.
There are still problems with goals against. Let's talk about the defense on the next slide.