3 For 3: Three Thoughts For Three Blue Jacket Wins In The Rick Bowness Era

By Ed Francis on January 19, 2026 at 4:05 pm
The playoff hopes are alive and well, Elvis seems rejuvenated, and is Dmitri in the doghouse? Here are three thoughts from the first week of the Rick Bowness era.
Kevin Rouch
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Make no bones about it.

The vibe for the Columbus Blue Jackets has shifted in the Rick Bowness era.

It was January 12 when the Blue Jackets made a sudden change, firing now-former head coach Dean Evason and bringing Bowness out of retirement.

The Blue Jackets are 3-0 since then, defeating Western Conference stragglers the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks at home in their first two games, then coming up with a shootout victory on the road Saturday night over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The 3-0-0 start under Bowness has renewed team spirit, energized the fan base, and brought the Blue Jackets right back into the thick of the playoff race. 

Right now, all the Blue Jackets can do is focus on themselves. With that in mind, here are three thoughts from the first three games in the era of "Bones": 

THOUGHT ONE: Postseason Hopes Seem Resurrected

So, about those playoffs.

The Blue Jackets entered Monday just four points behind the Penguins for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

Finishing top three in the Metro would guarantee the Blue Jackets a playoff spot, and that may be just as feasible this season as a wild card spot. Columbus trails the Buffalo Sabres by six points for the second wild card spot, with multiple Atlantic Division teams between them.

In either event, there's no denying that Columbus' playoff hopes are significantly better this week than they were last week. The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn gives them a 41% chance to see postseason hockey, up from the high 20's just two weeks ago. MoneyPuck is less optimistic, though even their 22% chance has more than doubled since the holiday break.

But the percentages, at this point, don't mean too much. All it takes is one winning streak and the analytics can be thrown out the window. Still, it's nice to know they're trending in the right direction.

Speaking of streaks: the Blue Jackets can get a season-high fifth straight victory Tuesday when they play the Ottawa Senators. It kicks off another season-high: a five-game homestand.

It will be the most the most crucial stretch of the season.

Columbus is 4-1-1 in their last six games at home, and it was last season's 26-10-5 record at Nationwide Arena that got the franchise on the cusp of a playoff berth.

THOUGHT TWO: Elvis Might Be Rejuvenated 

Borrowing a bit from our own Will Chase's piece Sunday, Merzlikins has talked the talk and walked the walk in his first pair of starts under Bowness. His first start Thursday propelled Columbus to a 4-1 win over the Canucks, and Merzlikins made 30 saves on 31 shots en route to being the First Star of the Game.

It was Merzlikins' best performance not only this season, but dating back to Oct. 30, 2024, it was Merzlikins best save percentage in a game.

That's a span of 65 starts and 443 calendar days. 

In his interview with FanDuel Sports Network broadcaster Jody Shelley after the game, Merzlikins said that the Blue Jackets were going to win in Pittsburgh two days later. That drew the ire of the local Pittsburgh media, but apparently not the Penguins themselves: Merzlikins stopped 29 of 32 shots and three of four in the shootout to again lead the Blue Jackets to victory.

Despite giving up three goals, Merzlikins was named the Third Star of the Game — likely the result of several dazzling stops in overtime, keeping the Blue Jackets in the game long enough for Charlie Coyle to pick up the game-winner in the fourth round of the shootout. 

Bowness was quick to credit Merzlikins, especially given that Columbus played most of the game with just five defensemen after Dante Fabbro left in the first period with a lower-body injury.

"Look how great Elvis played," Bowness said. "You go down to five (defensemen), they're going to be tired. They're going to be under pressure. You need big saves. Elvis was outstanding. He really was."

No official starter has been named for Tuesday's game against the Senators, but Merzlikins has certainly earned another start and is playing his best hockey of the season over the last week. If Columbus can have two effective goalies, it will go a long way in their playoff push.

THOUGHT THREE: Is Dmitri In The Doghouse?

Each of the first three games under Rick Bowness has seen the ice time of Dmitri Voronkov shrink.

He played 14:27 in Tuesday's game, 13:22 two nights later, and just 8:57 in Saturday's 65-minute affair in Pittsburgh. All three are under his season average of 15:19, which was even higher (15:32) before the last three games.

And if 8:57 seems remarkably low for Voronkov, that's because it was. In fact, it was the third-lowest ice time of his NHL career and just one second away from being the second lowest. 

Voronkov was swapped with Danton Heinen in the middle of the game and found himself on the fourth line — a line he also skated on at practice Monday.

After practice, Bowness said that he spoke with Voronkov and was "very clear with what (the team needs) from him."

"He had some good reads defensively," Bowness said. "We'd like to see a little bit more offense from him."

The Big Boss, as Voronkov is known, is third on the team in goals (16) and tied for third in points (30), so it may seem puzzling that the new coach is challenging him to boost his offensive output. 

But this could be a tactic by Bowness, the oldest coach in the league, to find untapped potential in Voronkov. He clearly has the size and strength, but it's something that he may not be using to the best of his ability in the eyes of the new bench boss.

There's also this: Bones has a fondness for responsible, smart play and, despite only three fighting majors on the season, Voronkov is the team leader in penalty minutes. He has taken 18 minor penalties this season, and no other player on the team has more than 13, and one of them is Mason Marchment.

Voronkov will need to play a big-time role if Columbus is going to make the charge they seem to be making, but the question now becomes what that role will look like in the Bowness era.

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Early Returns: Elvis Playing Well Under Bowness So Far

Dec 20, 2025; Anaheim, California, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins (90) looks on during the second period against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center.