Blue Jackets' Historic Eastern Conference Points Streak Reaches 19 Games

By Nic Hendrickson on February 11, 2020 at 10:15 am
Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins makes a save against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
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Losing a hard-fought game in overtime against a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning is never an easy pill to swallow. Given the performance the Columbus Blue Jackets put out on Monday night, it makes it all that much more difficult to stomach.

Despite that, there is a silver lining to this storyline.

The Jackets extended an impressive points streak against Eastern Conference opponents to 19 games, gaining a point in their overtime loss against the Lighting. This is a streak that dates back to Dec. 7 when the Blue Jackets fell, 4-1 to the Florida Panthers. It's also the fifth-longest intra-conference point streak in a single season since the 1974-75 season.

During this time, the Jackets have gone 14-0-5.

​Collecting 28 of a possible 38 points from Eastern Conference opponents bodes well for a Blue Jackets team currently sitting in a playoff position. It shows that Columbus can compete against any other team they might face come playoff time, having earned points against every other Eastern Conference team but the Philadelphia Flyers, a fact that can change in a back-to-back against them on Feb. 18 and Feb. 20.

The Blue Jackets have plenty of chances coming up this month to extend this intra-conference point streak, with the next one coming on Thursday against the Buffalo Sabres, a team that Columbus has excelled against in recent history. The Jackets have gone 1-0-1 against the Sabres this season and 8-3-1 in their last 12 games against them, with the last meeting ending in a 2-1 overtime loss in which Matiss Kivlenieks started.

With Elvis Merzlikins almost certainly standing between the pipes on Thursday, it is looking more and more likely that the Blue Jackets could break the 20-game mark for this streak and continue to firm their position up as a possible Stanley Cup Playoff attendee.

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