The Columbus Blue Jackets enter action on Tuesday night holding down one of the Eastern Conference’s wildcard playoff spots. Thanks to their performance this season and their upcoming schedule, they have their sights set on something more.
The Blue Jackets will play the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night in Prudential Center. It’s just the latest biggest game of the season for a Blue Jackets’ team that has been in playoff mode for the last couple of months.
Besides staying in a wildcard position, the Blue Jackets now have a chance to do what many thought was unthinkable at the beginning of the season.
Top-3 Metro in Sight?
The Blue Jackets and Devils are separated by just four points in the standings entering Tuesday night’s game. But wait, there’s more. The Blue Jackets have played two less games than the Devils.
Should the Blue Jackets win Tuesday night in regulation, they’ll climb to within two points of the Devils while maintaining those two games in hand. In that scenario, the Blue Jackets would control their own destiny for a top-3 position in the Metropolitan Division.
The gap to second-place Carolina is 10 points with a game in hand if you wanted to look ahead. While second place is a tougher ask, third place is not only clearly in sight, but also very doable.
Tuesday will mark the second of three meetings on the season between the Blue Jackets and Devils. The Blue Jackets won the first meeting back on Dec 19. In the 4-2 win, Elvis Merzlikins stole the show making 40 saves including stopping all 13 shots from Jack Hughes.
The only Hughes’ brother expected to play on Tuesday will be defenseman Luke Hughes. Jack is out for the rest of the season after having shoulder surgery. His loss is massive for a Devils’ team that suddenly must look in their rear-view mirror at an oncoming Blue Jackets’ team striving for more than a wildcard spot.
Blue Jackets Handled Rangers
The Blue Jackets took advantage of a Rangers’ team on the second night of back-to-back and in the midst of nine games in 16 days across multiple time zones. Their 7-3 win at Madison Square Garden put them back in the first wildcard spot as of Sunday night and in position to reel the Devils in even closer.
How have the Blue Jackets been able to enjoy all this…
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