The Blue Jackets saw their 10-game winning streak snapped over the weekend, but with just six games separating them from a long summer or another trip to the playoffs, the club has long-since moved on from the tough loss.
New opportunities await, and the Blue Jackets head west to take on the three western Canadian teams: the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, and Vancouver Canucks.
There's no guarantee, but a successful road trip could mean the team will be celebrating a clinched playoff berth in consecutive years for the first time in franchise history – in a different time zone. Typically, 95 points is a surefire bet to get into the playoffs, and a trio of wins would put them at 95.
Even if they have a successful trip and don't clinch, they'll put a ton of pressure on those around them, most notably the Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils, but also the Pittsburgh Penguins, who moved three points ahead of Columbus with their overtime win on Sunday over the Flyers, and the Florida Panthers, who are trying to sneak in with a desperate second-half of the season.
In year's past, a trip out west wasn't necessarily kind to the Blue Jackets, though the script has been flipped in recent years.
#CBJ off today, practice on Monday, then fly off to Edmonton for Tuesdays start to three-game Western Canada trip. Used to put dreaded before Western Canada, but #CBJ are 8-1-0 on last three trips to Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver, including a three-game sweep last season.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) March 25, 2018
Not only are all three of their opponents out of a playoff spot, two of them (Vancouver and Edmonton) are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. That's especially damning given that – as of Sunday evening – only eight teams in the NHL can boast mathematical elimination.
Calgary, sitting at 80 points through 76 games, are trending that way too, and fast. The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn's projections and probabilities model gives the Flames a 0% chance of making the playoffs, and it's easy to see why. Even if they won out their remaining 6 games, their 92 points would give them three more points than the St. Louis Blues, who with 89 points in 75 games, sit in the last Wild Card spot.
Often times, like the California trip earlier this month, these road trips are crammed. Three games in four nights is common, and after a long trip, that has real consequences. Here, the club plays every other night, and will be very rested, having not played since Saturday before their first game on Tuesday night.
The Blue Jackets are 11-3 since the trade deadline, and two of their three acquisitions came from Edmonton (Mark Letestu) and Vancouver (Thomas Vanek). A little added incentive – and maybe some money on the board? – will be on the line for these veterans as they look to help push their new team into the promised land.
The team isn't in "must-win" territory anymore, nor are they playing to keep a streak alive. But with the playoff carrot being dangled ever-so-closely to their bite, expect the Blue Jackets to come out strong in their tour of Western Canada.
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