The Columbus Blue Jackets are struggling.
On a six-game skid, the Blue Jackets enter Tuesday's pivotal game against the Detroit Red Wings owning the longest active losing streak in the NHL.
They're just 1-6-1 over their last eight games and have fallen from second in the Metropolitan Division to below the playoff line in the Eastern Conference. Still, they have a realistic shot at a playoff berth as teams in the race have largely sputtered.
Columbus (88 points) trails the Philadelphia Flyers (90 points) by two points for third place in the Metropolitan Division, with the New York Islanders (89 points) sitting between them. The Blue Jackets have a game in hand on the Islanders and hold a tiebreaker over the Flyers.
Can they outplay each team by two points over the final five (four for New York) games of the season? If they can — and hold off the pesky Washington Capitals (87 points, four games left)— they'll be in the postseason.
But to get there, they'll need to find their offense.
After scoring 16 goals in a three-game stretch from March 17-21, the Blue Jackets' scoring has fallen off a cliff. They've scored a mere 13 goals in the eight games since March 21 and just 10 in the last six games.
That would be understandable if goalies were standing on their heads night in and night out, but they're not. The Blue Jackets simply aren't generating scoring opportunities.
Their shots on goal per period in the last two games: 2, 4, 4, 5, 3, 8.
That's just 26 shots on goal combined in their last two games, including tying a franchise low with just 10 in Thursday night's 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Saturday's 2-1 loss to Winnipeg saw a few more opportunities for Columbus, but also included a stretch of 25:56 without a shot on goal.
History was made tonight in Raleigh.#CBJ forwards had only two shots on goal in 5-1 loss to Carolina - one each by Jenner and Marchenko. The other 8 were by d'men.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) April 3, 2026
Since the NHL started tracking SOGs in 1959-60, that's the fewest combined shots by forwards in a single game.
It's been worse than bad, and head coach Rick Bowness knows it.
"All our issues right now are related to just puck management. It's terrible," Bowness said after Saturday's loss. "We're making poor percentage plays. We create the second-most chances on the forecheck in the entire league, yet we want to get inside the blue line and make cute little plays against good teams that aren't working. I have to get after them. They have to change their mindset."
Despite their recent struggles, Bowness is betting on his group.
"I still believe in them, and I still love working with them, "Bowness said. "Do we have some issues we have to straighten out? Yes, and some of that is on me as well. I'm certainly gonna have to look at me and take a look at how we've got these lines constructed.
"We're gonna start with that, and we're gonna figure out ways to get more offense. They’ve got to step up and produce.”
Monday, Bowness reiterated that lines are going to look different.
”We've got to create more offense, and we're not doing enough of it right now. We're going on the road. I don't get (the) last change,” Bowness said after practice. “So the lines that we've put together for tomorrow, right now, they're balanced. We're going to give it a different look early. We'll see if it can give us some momentum. If we don't like what we're looking at, we'll flip them back again."
What might those lines look like? The Blue Jackets were off Sunday, and Monday’s optional skate was far from a complete practice, so it will be another day before we see what Bowness has come up with.
But here's a best guess at what the lines could look like and why they might look that way.
| LW | C | RW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Cole Sillinger | 19 | Adam Fantilli | 83 | Conor Garland |
| 17 | Mason Marchment | 3 | Charlie Coyle | 86 | Kirill Marchenko |
| 91 | Kent Johnson | 23 | Sean Monahan | 65 | Luca Del Bel Belluz |
| 21 | Isac Lundeström | 38 | Boone Jenner | 43 | Danton Heinen |
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Zach Werenski | 15 | Dante Fabbro |
| 9 | Ivan Provorov | 5 | Denton Mateychuk |
| 2 | Jake Christiansen | 44 | Erik Gudbranson |
Cole Sillinger hasn't produced much offense during the team's 1-6-1 streak — he has just one point in those eight games. But he's played a physical game (12 hits), has played smart (just one minor penalty), and worked hard on both sides of the puck. Bowness has been vocal about certain guys giving everything they have, while others have done just the opposite. It feels like Sillinger fits in the former category and could be elevated.
He steps in for Mason Marchment, who hasn't done anything 'wrong' per se, but could benefit from playing with a center like Charlie Coyle, and in this scenario, they're both on the second line with Kirill Marchenko.
Both Marchenko and Garland have struggled of late, but bumping Marchenko to the second line could take a little pressure off him when it comes to other teams routinely sending their top guys after him.
In the bottom six, the Blue Jackets must get Kent Johnson into the lineup and get him contributing. There are defensive concerns, but Johnson is one season removed from 24 goals in 68 games and still shows flashes of brilliance with the puck. For a team struggling to score, Johnson should be part of the solution.
Coyle's elevation means Sean Monahan moves down in the lineup. Putting Monahan with youngsters Johnson and Luca Del Bel Belluz gives the Blue Jackets a balanced third line with scoring ability and defensive responsibility up the middle.
That leaves a fourth line of Isac Lundeström, Boone Jenner, and Danton Heinen — one that should probably see under 10 minutes a game down the stretch. The veteran leadership and ability to play a two-way game are good, but should be used sparingly.
On the defensive side, the combination of Denton Mateychuk and Ivan Provorov is allowing a team-best 1.76 expected goals per 60. Keep them together.
That leaves either Dante Fabbro or Erik Gudbranson to pair with Zach Werenski, with the other playing on the third pairing with Jake Christiansen or Egor Zamula. The advanced data suggests Fabbro over Gudbranson, and Christiansen edges out Zamula.
These likely won't be the lines moving forward, but no matter what Bowness decides to do, they need to find something that works on Tuesday night in Detroit. The loser of that game is likely out of the race, while the winner will have a renewed sense of hope heading into the final week.
