The Columbus Blue Jackets entered the Tuesday night tilt against the Carolina Hurricanes firmly needing a big two points at home. The Blue Jackets played one of their best games of the season and rose to the occasion to take down the Hurricanes 5-1 in what could be massive for playoff positioning down the stretch.
The point streak for the Blue Jackets was extended to 10 games, and they currently sit one point out of the playoffs with a game in hand over both wild card teams ahead of them, the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings.
Moreover, they just outplayed the best team in the East in a style they are known for playing. The Blue Jackets’ forecheck, and more recently their back check, has been one of the big standouts of their recent success. It has allowed their goaltenders to look fantastic in the crease and has led to easy saves.
Goaltender Jet Greaves has looked unbelievable ever since Rick Bowness took over at the helm. In his last 12 starts, he is 10-0-2, which is ridiculous, and he has not slowed down one bit. He and Elvis Merzlikins have formed a tandem that will keep each other fresher as the season wears on.
So, the Blue Jackets get the win in dominating fashion, but what stood out over the course of the game?
Dominated the Little Details
It was all the little things that led to the Blue Jackets having total control in this game from start to finish. They scored on two of their five power-play opportunities, and shut down the Hurricanes on their only power-play opportunity.
They won in the faceoff circle by a large margin, winning 65.1% of draws, which allowed them to have possession of the puck and not have to chase it around all night. Even with having possession of the puck at such a high rate, they also managed to block 23 shots in front of Greaves as well. Just an all-around incredible performance from top to bottom.
NHL GameScore Impact Card for Columbus Blue Jackets on 2026-03-17: pic.twitter.com/FjRfcbiytJ
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) March 18, 2026
Having nine players with an A grade or higher is nearly a perfect game for the Blue Jackets, and it showed on the ice as well. They also controlled the pace of play better than they have almost the entire season. According to Sportradar, the Blue Jackets possessed the puck 57% of the game, and absolutely dominated the first period, holding it 66% of the time, leading to a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.
Charlie Coyle had one of his best games of the season as well, making a highlight reel assist with only one hand to Mathieu Olivier, who made a nifty move to net his 13th goal of the season. Coyle finished the night with two more assists and tallied a goal as well for four total points, his third game this season with four points.
Related: How Can the Blue Jackets Lock Down a Playoff Spot Over the Final 16 Games?
Zach Werenski also made a comment pregame that was noted by The Hockey Writers‘ Mark Scheig, where he mentioned he feels like he has been playing his best defensively of the entire season. That couldn’t have rang more true last night, where Werenski played another great game, as he continues to make his case in the Norris Trophy race.
The Blue Jackets have found a way to play at a level right now that not many other teams have been able to compete with, and though they haven’t been making up a ton of ground, they are forcing the hand of every team ahead of them in the standings.
Pressure is a dangerous thing, and when they play as freely as they did against the Hurricanes and force the opposition to press, it often will lead to a lot of opportunities the other way on the offensive end.
The Bowness Buy-In
This can be viewed through the lens of winning, and that making everything look better, but I firmly believe this team is much different than the Blue Jackets team we saw take the ice prior to Jan. 12. Bowness has come in and laid down the law, he has given this team structure, and they have responded in a big way.
They have been nearly untouchable since he took over, and have jumped up the standings because of it. When Bowness took over for former coach Dean Evason, the Blue Jackets were in last place in the Eastern Conference by a three-point margin. Now they are one point out of the playoffs with a game in hand to catch the opposition.
Rick Bowness is now 16-2-4 as #CBJ head coach.
Over an 82-game pace, that’s a record of 60-7-15.
The hypothetical 135 points would tie an NHL record for most points in a season.
— Ed Francis (@BlueJacketStats) March 18, 2026
I think with a smaller sample size its fair to argue it was just a new coaching bump, and the players were skating with a little more energy and fire. After 22 games, though, the record speaks for itself.
Bowness has only lost two games in regulation in his first 22 games behind the Blue Jackets bench. That mark is rather unheard of across the league as a whole. The team clearly has picked up what he has been putting down and responded extremely well to it.
The game tape is the evidence in this case, as the Blue Jackets just physically dominated a team that is known for being more physical than the opposition. They are outskating the opposition, they are more physical, and they are playing fundamentally sound hockey. Of course, there are things to work on, but this team, more than anything right now, believes.
They know they have the skill and the talent, and again, they proved in this game that they can hang with anyone, regardless of where they sit in the standings. If there ever was a prove-it game this late in the season, the Blue Jackets have had a few of them, and in each of them, they have shown they are ready for anything.
