Window Is Closing For Columbus Blue Jackets To Shock The World

For a while there, it looked like the Columbus Blue Jackets had us all fooled.

After trading their best player in the offseason, getting off to a pitiful start, and watching virtually every player on their roster spend at least some sort of time on injured reserve, the Blue Jackets rattled off enough wins to make it looks like they could be an actual playoff threat.

The Blue Jackets managed to get a point in 12 consecutive games, with a streak that began in the last game of February and carried on until they finally lost a game in regulation on March 23rd. Interestingly enough, 11 of those dozen games went to overtime or to a shootout.

That doesn’t take anything away from what the Jackets did. Points in a dozen straight is no small feat, especially for a team like this. But those brief playoff hopes that they saw may already be disappearing before their very eyes.

The Blue Jackets are currently in the middle of a three-game losing streak. One of those games was in a shootout, but two of them were in regulation, meaning they’ve managed just one out of a possible six point in their last trio of games. Which leaves them three points out of a playoff spot.

With just 15 games left on the season, that’s not going to be the easiest of deficits to makeup. These games are going to get progressively harder for every team in the league. Given the roster that this Blue Jackets club currently boasts, they may not be able to keep up.