Evolution Of A Comeback: The Blue Jackets Are Feverishly Closing The Gap On A Postseason Berth

The playoff picture for the Columbus Blue Jackets was on life support.

On that day, the Blue Jackets had just gotten back to the .500 mark after an overtime win in Utah against the Mammoth the night before. 

The victory improved their record to 19-19-7 — but they were still dead last in the Eastern Conference and on pace to finish with a ho-hum 82 points. That was a projected 15 points out of the 97-point pace held by the Philadelphia Flyers and Buffalo Sabres, the two teams holding down third place in the Metropolitan division and the second wild card spot, respectively.

Not only were they seven points back, but they also had one more game played (45) than either the Flyers or Sabres (44).

Here's how that looked by the numbers:

Something had to change — and something did.

Late in the afternoon on the 12th, the Blue Jackets announced they were making a change behind the bench: Dean Evason out, Rick Bowness in.

Since Bowness took over? Win, win, win, loss, win, win, win, win, win.

Despite the three wins to start the Bowness era, it was the one loss — a sluggish 4-1 defeat at home to the Ottawa Senators on Jan. 20 — that, at least in the standings, put Columbus ever-so-slightly further behind. They were eight points out of third in the Metro instead of seven, and still seven points behind a wild-card spot. 

Here's what things looked like after the loss:

But simply looking at points can be a deceiving practice, because even though they hadn't closed the gap at all in the wild card race and fell one point further behind in the Metro, the Blue Jackets now had a game in hand instead of those other teams having a game in hand. The difference in that?

The 14.9 pace had been cut to 11.5 for a metro spot and down to 9.8 for a wild card spot.

There was a glimmer of hope. 

That glimmer became a spark after the Blue Jackets won their next three games, with victories over two of the NHL's best teams in the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning, plus a win over a divisional rival in the Philadelphia Flyers.

Here's how things looked after that three-game win streak:

Columbus, in a matter of less than two weeks, boosted their projected point pace from 82.0 to 89.8 — but both third place in the Metro and the second wild card spot had increased too, and even as recently as Friday, the Blue Jackets were still on pace to miss a playoff spot by roughly nine points. They had trimmed six points off the aforementioned 15-point pace, but they weren't getting a lot of helps from the teams above them in the standings.

Enter this weekend.

The Blue Jackets swept a road back-to-back, a tough feat for any team. They got more help Saturday night when the Islanders lost in regulation — and on home ice — to the Nashville Predators. The Sabres and Boston Bruins, who have bounced back and forth in the second wild card position, picked up just one of a possible four points in their action over the weekend, too.

Look at what that's done to the playoff race:

The Blue Jackets are on pace for 92.6 points, which is the highest they've been since Dec. 6, when their record dropped to 13-9-6 after an overtime loss to the Florida Panthers.

Equally, or perhaps even more important, is that the third-place point pace in the division is currently at 96.9 — within one-tenth of a point of being as low as it's been since the calendar flipped to 2026.

When we look at things from the day Bowness was hired, the math tells us that the Blue Jackets have gone from being on pace to miss the playoffs by 14.9 points all the way down to 4.3, which means they've closed the gap by 71% in a matter of just nine games.

#CBJ have picked up 18 of their last 20 possible points. Over relevant other Metro teams last ten games, heres how much ground Columbus has picked up:

Penguins: +1
Devils: +6
Islanders: +8
Capitals: +9
Flyers: +12

— Ed Francis (@BlueJacketStats) February 1, 2026

It could get even better, too.

There is a scenario in which the Blue Jackets can enter the Olympic break in third place in the division. If they win both of their games this week and the Islanders lose both of theirs in regulation, both teams will be at 65 points, and Columbus will have a game in hand. The Washington Capitals, who play the Islanders on Monday night, could be a part of a tie, too, but the Blue Jackets would have two games in hand on Alex Ovechkin's team.

Even if that doesn't happen, the data tells us that this team has gotten itself back into the playoff race at warp speed.

It also tells us that, with wild card two projected to be at over 100 points at this time, the goal should be clear: finishing top three in the Metro is the best way to make the postseason.

As wild as the ride was last season, this season has the potential to be — somehow, someway — even more wild.