The Blue Jackets are underway in a key stretch that could go a long way in deciding whether their fans are doing “playoff math” this spring.

Despite losing Laine and Gaudreau as top scorers, the fast-rising Blue Jackets have impressed GM Don Waddell with a offensive firepower.

The loss ends the Jackets' winning streak at six games, but extends their string of games earning a point to seven. "It was a great hockey game," Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said on the FanDuel Sports Network postgame show.

The game against the Rangers kicked off a stretch of eight games out of nine away from home, which continues tonight just a little to the east as the Blue Jackets take on the Islanders. Defenseman Damon Severson said the team wants to keep playing that tighter style on the road as the Jackets try to rack up points.

The Blue Jackets 'mucked' it up with Tortorella's Flyers to win by shootout on Marchenko's borrowed move from Texier: 3 takeaways

Tarasov became the first goaltender in NHL history to record his first career shutout and suffer a loss in the same game.

On Dec. 18, the Blue Jackets ranked 26th in the NHL standings and trailed a wild-card spot by five points. After dropping eight of their last nine games, the playoffs seemed increasingly out of reach. They have gone 9-3 ever since.

The Blue Jackets scored four goals in the second period to seize control over Kraken with rookie-powered lineup.

They didn’t get to six goals, but the Blue Jackets did move into the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference over the Boston Bruins by extending their season-high winning streak to six straight games Thursday at Nationwide Arena.

Blue Jackets forward Sean Monahan is on IR with an upper-body injury. He has had a great season in his first year with the team.

Blue Jacket retain Aston-Reese for one more year at $775,000 after claiming him off waivers from the Golden Knights in the preseason.