Winnipeg Jets @ Columbus Blue Jackets: Season 25 4/4/26

If there was ever a night for our Blue Jackets to right this playoff push ship, it's tonight, at home, against the Jets. It would take seconds for the Blue Jackets to ignite the cannon! Ivan Provorov would score goal number nine of his season just 1:17 into the game! Mason Marchment would add his twenty-third assist this season on the primary, while Kirill Marchenko would add his thirty-eighth assist to his season on the secondary. Believe it or not, the Jets would lead the shots on goal this period, 8-5, but that would be the only goal of the game thus far, meaning our Blue Jackets would hold a one-goal advantage ahead of Period 2. 

Our boys would nearly escape this period with that 1-0 lead, but a Jets' takeaway would lead to Kyle Connor's thirty-fifth goal this season, and a 1-1 tie at 18:14. Ugh. Well, the Jets are trying to get to the playoffs, too, so of course they're not going down without a fight! Mark Scheifele would add his fifty-ninth assist this season on the primary, while Neal Pionk added his eighth assist this season on the secondary. The seconds would evaporate, and that 1-1 tie would hold till the buzzer signaling the end of Period 2. The Jets would dominate shots on goal, 9-3. Of course, I wish our number were higher, but theirs aren't astronomical, either, so I'll take it...? 

Unfortunately, one goal would decide this game in Period 3, and it wouldn't belong to our Blue Jackets. Kyle Connor would add a second goal tonight, his thirty-sixth this season, at 10:58. Mark Scheifele added a second assist tonight with the only assist on Kyle's second goal tonight. This marks his sixtieth assist this season. As I said, this was the only goal of the period, and the Jets won 2-1 on the road in Nationwide Arena. Shots on goal in the final regulation period ended up tied, 8-8.  

Jet Greaves, our goalie, gets the Third Star of the Game. He finished with a .920 save percentage after stopping 23 of the 25 Jets' shots on his home net. He really earned this, too, because some of those saves were incredible. 

Mark Scheifele gets the Second Star of the Game. He had two assists, one on each of the Jets' goals tonight. 

Kyle Connor, with his two goals tonight for the Jets, one being the game winner, gets the First Star of the Game. 

This game hurts for more than just a sixth loss in a row. The New York Islanders, who hold the 3rd spot in the Metropolitan Division, could have been replaced by our Blue Jackets tonight as they lost against the Carolina Hurricanes at home. Unfortunately, we sit outside of the playoffs by 1 point after our loss. The Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, and Ottawa Senators all lost today, too. So, nothing really changes regarding the playoff standings, and that's good for us. That said, we have five games left, and there is zero room for error. 

The good news is that we have two days of rest before we play again. The bad news, we play on the road against a team fighting us in the standings. That makes this game all the more important, as we can take two points for ourselves and deprive a team chasing us of two points in the same game. We must do this. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. 

Go CBJ! 


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