Control Your Own Destiny

In a head to head matchup, the Columbus Blue Jackets moved into a tie with the Boston Bruins for the final Wildcard playoff spot in the Lemieux conference with a regulation win. The win moved the Jackets into a tie in points with both the Bruins and Islanders, however the Bruins still hold the Regulation Wins tie breaker over the Jackets. With two games to go, Columbus General Manager Andrew Payeur acknowledged there is still a long way to go as the Bruins have been playing great hockey since acquiring former Blue Jacket Evgeni Malkin and the Islanders will also hold any tie breaker against the Jackets for the third and final playoff spot in the Metropolitan division.

The win was the Jackets first since the devastating injury suffered by Jake Muzzin over the weekend, the teams's best defenceman and most consistent presence all season. Head Coach Bruce Cassidy deployed a lineup with 7 defenceman to help mitigate the loss of the minute eating Muzzin, using both Juuso Riikola and Christian Djoos in limited roles to lighten the load on the new top pairing of Justin Schultz and Olli Maata. Cassidy is expected to keep the same lineup against the Rangers although he wouldn't rule out a late call up from the Greenville Swamp Rabbits to fill in for a struggling Cole Schneider on the fourth line.

With two games the go, the Blue Jackets control their own destiny and can complete the unbelievable journey the team has been on since the trade deadline when Payeur traded away long time Center Evgeny Kuznetsov for Zach Aston-Reese and prospects. The road remaining for the team remains difficult. They will face the red hot New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators on back to back nights on the road. Matt Murray, who has taken his game to another level since rumours surfaced that he would not be protected in the expansion draft this offseason, is expected to make both starts.

Cole Bates

Nice article what a run down the stretch here good luck either way

Control Your Own Destiny
Blue Jackets take possession of final wildcard playoff spot with 2 games to go

• 1 teams Like this  3 years