With six weeks remaining in the regular season, the surging Columbus Blue Jackets are closer to playoff position than the two-time reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
Hoping to have star defenseman Zach Werenski back in the lineup, the host Blue Jackets can record a third straight victory by handing the Panthers their fourth consecutive defeat Thursday night.
Columbus, which last made the playoffs in 2020, is 13-2-1 since Jan. 11 and sits three points behind the Boston Bruins for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Perhaps more impressively, the Blue Jackets won the last two games minus their scoring leader, Werenski, the Norris Trophy contender and recent Olympic gold-medal winner who is dealing with an illness.
Columbus trailed the Nashville Predators through two periods on Tuesday, but Sean Monahan and Charlie Coyle scored in the third en route to a 3-2 victory in the opener of a four-game homestand. The Blue Jackets are amid a 5-0-1 stretch at home.
“We got to be desperate. We need to win games. We need points — and claw ourselves back into the mix,” Monahan, who had a short-handed goal in each of the last two games, told FanDuel Sports Network Columbus.
“We got to keep this going.”
Coyle has six goals with 10 assists in the last 10 games, while teammate Adam Fantilli has scored in four straight. Fantilli, who has 12 points in the last 10 games, notched an assist during the Blue Jackets’ 7-6 overtime loss at Florida on Dec. 6.
“I’ve been trying to play this way all year, and I’ve been saying it through the whole year — I like my game,” Fantilli said. “I’ve matured a lot. I’m starting to get rewarded for it right now.”
Though Columbus is 0-6-3 against Florida since a 5-3 victory on Nov. 20, 2022, the Panthers are amid a 2-8-0 rut and sit third from the bottom in the East with 63 points — seven back of the Blue Jackets.
Florida has allowed 40 goals in its last 10 games, the latest being a 5-1 loss at the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.
“We know what the situation is,” said Anton Lundell, who scored the Panthers’ lone goal.
Plagued by injuries most of the season, Florida has yielded 21 goals during its current four-game road losing streak.
“You cannot look at the math,” said Panthers forward Tomas Nosek, who made his season debut Tuesday following knee surgery. “When you start looking at the math, you’re gone. You need to just focus on the next game and win the next game. That’s all there is.”
Sergei Bobrovsky (.873 save percentage) stopped 28 of 31 shots he faced Tuesday for the Panthers. He made 25 saves in the win over Columbus earlier this season.
Backup Daniil Tarasov has yielded 12 goals amid his three-start losing streak.
Columbus’ Elvis Merzlikins made 33 saves against Florida in December. He stopped both shots he faced Tuesday after starter Jet Greaves left briefly after a collision and underwent concussion testing. Greaves returned and made 21 saves.
Merzlikins posted a .909 save percentage while winning five of his last six starts. Greaves owns a .913 save percentage amid his 5-0-1 stretch.
