The Columbus Blue Jackets have not made the playoffs since the 2019-20 season. This year, the Blue Jackets are making a push to return to the playoffs. On Tuesday night, they made another step towards the playoffs with a victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
While the team struggled early in the game, Zach Werenski continued his stellar season with an epic performance, willing his team to a win, according to Jeff Svoboda of BlueJackets.com.
The Blue Jackets were outshot 10-3 in the first period, in what head coach Rick Bowness called “probably one of the worst” since he took over as the head coach. They would manage to be down just 1-0 heading into the second, though.
On his first shift of the second period, Werenski took the puck from the middle of the ice, creating a three-on-two situation. He would move the puck over to Mathieu Olivier after making the defense commit to a side of the ice. Olivier put the puck past Dan Vladar to tie the game. Less than two minutes later, Mason Marchment sent a pass to Damon Severson, who then found Weresnki, who lit the lamp to take the lead. They would never give the lead back as the Jackets won 3-2.
“That he’s able to do that when things aren’t going good,” Bowness said. “'OK, take control,’ and he did. The whole team struggled in that first period; let’s not kid ourselves. So when that happens, you need your better players to take over and set the tone.”
It was the 25th time this year that Werenski has had multiple points in a game, which tied a franchise record. Further, his 77 points on the season are the fifth most in a season in franchise history.
“We know how special a player he is,” netminder Jet Greaves said. “The whole league, the whole world knows it now. It’s super fun to watch every night. You kind of get used to it a little bit and almost take it for granted sometimes, but at the same time, he does things like that, and he just reminds us of how special a player he is.”
With the win, the Blue Jackets moved to 38-22-11 on the season and into second place in the Metropolitan Division. They are still just two points ahead of the playoff bar. They will face a fellow playoff contender, the Montreal Canadiens, on Thursday night.
