In a little more than two months, the Blue Jackets have gone from an utterly frustrated bunch to one of the NHL’s most confident teams with the NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs in sight.
More: Columbus Blue Jackets top Seattle Kraken, stay in playoff spot: Replay
Putting it in hockey parlance, they’re an absolute wagon after climbing from last in the Eastern Conference to third in the Metropolitan Division, and nobody’s beaming more than Rick Bowness, the head coach who left the ease of retirement Jan. 12 to rejoin the NHL’s coaching ranks.
“They make it easier coming out of retirement,” Bowness said after the Blue Jackets’ 5-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken on March 21 at sold-out Nationwide Arena. “I love coming out of retirement for this. This is awesome. We’re all having fun, right?”
A big road matchup March 22 against the New York Islanders means there’s little time for the Blue Jackets (37-21-11) to enjoy their fourth straight win and 12th straight game earning points, but there’s enough to review what’s happened in Columbus the past two months.
Bowness didn’t just leave retirement. He docked his boat in South Florida, got a thumbs up from his wife, Judy, and walked away from a studio gig on TNT to take over the bench for a last place team brimming with talent and lacking two qualities that now make these Blue Jackets a difficult matchup.
Structure and confidence.
“I mean, ever since we hired ‘Bones,’ what are we, like 18-2-4 or something like that?” forward Cole Sillinger said. “I mean, it’s crazy how the change of energy and a new voice coming in here (helped). ‘Bones’ is such a good leader, really good at teaching principles and I think that just has cleared it up for our group.”
That’s an understatement and spot on. The Blue Jackets are a shiny new wagon in the NHL, and it’s feeling safer by the day to jump onboard. Here are three takeaways:
Sillinger is just 22 and he’s already playing his fifth full NHL season. His goal-scoring is the last thing that needs a boost, but otherwise he’s become quite an NHL forward.
After skating mostly at center in his first four seasons, starting at age 18, Sillinger has begun to thrive on the outside. He’s playing left wing on a fearsome checking line centered by Charlie Coyle and is starting to look like a second pivot while doing it.
He can still take faceoffs, if needed, gets to pucks and hangs onto them, and lately has begun using his vision and hands to set up teammates for scoring chances. Sillinger dished out primary assists on the Blue Jackets’ second and third goals in the first period, blocked two shots, delivered a hit and then scored into an empty net late in the third to seal a win from near center ice.
His seventh goal was his first since Jan. 24 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, ending a 17-game drought, but goals have become a bonus with an impressive young forward.
Kent Johnson and Sean Monahan were already improving under Bowness’ instruction, but general manager Don Waddell adding speedy, snarly undersized Conor Garland at the March 6 trade deadline pushed their wattage to a new brightness.
Garland is a dynamic skater with elite hand-eye skills, and he’s not shy about sticking his nose into puck battles to make things happen. He helps clear the Blue Jackets’ defensive zone, keeps pucks alive in the offensive zone and plays with an intensity that sets a tone that brings out the best in Monahan and Johnson.
Likewise, their elite puck skills pair perfectly with Garland, and that’s not to mention the Jackets’ impressive collection of two-way defensemen who can play that style too. Garland has scored five goals in eight games with the Blue Jackets and set up a tap-in for Johnson that re-established a two-goal lead, 4-2, in the second period.
Kaapo Kakko had just cut it to 3-2 for Seattle with Johnson in the penalty box for high-sticking, but a full-length rush started by Zach Werenski’s stretch pass ended in Seattle’s net. Werenski’s pass was redirected by Adam Fantilli to Garland, who took it toward the left post before passing Johnson on the opposite side.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Blue Jackets took 59% of the game’s shot attempts in the 10:30 of 5-on-5 that Garland, Monahan and Johnson skated together.
Werenski finished with three secondary assists on Blue Jackets’ first three goals to build a 3-0 lead in the first period. His stretch pass to Fantilli on Johnson’s goal didn’t officially count as a helper on the scoresheet, since passes by Fantilli and Garland notched those, but it was every bit as important in the play.
Werenski was dangerous, including four power plays that didn’t produce a goal, and the Jackets’ leading scorer is back to full strength after an ugly bout with an illness. Werenski has 75 points on 20 goals and 55 assists and trails Edmonton’s Evan Bouchard by four points for the scoring lead among NHL defensemen.
He’s played eight games fewer than Bouchard, so Werenski leads NHL defensemen with a 1.21 points per game average while also leading them in even-strength points (54) and co-leading all blue-liners in goals (17) with Washington’s Jakob Chychrun.
Werenski’s multi-point outing was his 24th of the season, which tied Rick Nash for second all-time in franchise history. He needs just one more in the Jackets' final 13 games to tie former Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin for most in one season.
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets pile up more points with Kraken win: Takeaways
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