Kardiac Blue Jackets Have Made Me A Believer

The Columbus Blue Jackets had just fallen to 3-0 in the first period of game four of the best of seven series with the Pittsburgh Penguins. It looked as if their window to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals was slowly closing.

Watching from home as I had done for the past three games, I wasn’t worried. In fact, armed with the knowledge the previous three games were all come from behind victories, I watched the next two periods with relative calm.

The Blue Jackets did not disappoint, as they slowly clawed their way back to a 3-2 deficit more than midway thru the 3^rd period. Center Ryan Johansen once again showed a flare for the dramatic, as it was his power play goal that would cut the Penguins lead to one.

Yet there was still work to do. Columbus needed at least one more goal to send the game into overtime, or they faced the prospect of heading to Pittsburgh facing an elimination game. I still believed they could do it. After all, this team has literally faced adversity all season long, and every time it seemed they bounced back even stronger.

Within the final minutes, my best friend and I sent dozens of text back and forth. Such as who would 

be the hero to send the game into OT (I said Johansen, naturally), and also that if the CBJ were to pull out game four, I would get tickets to game six.

As the game entered the final minute of regulation, it appeared that it was over. Then Brandon Dubinsky became the hero Columbus fans were looking for, and my friend and I are of course heading to game six on Monday night.

The outcome has typified what is now a very different hockey club. A few years ago I had almost written off the Jackets completely. Yet now the mixture of veterans such as Dubinsky and RJ Umberger, along with rookies such as Ryan Murray and Boone Jenner—both of whom are playing like veterans—has transformed this franchise into a contender. They are also making me believe that the Blue Jackets—who have established three franchise firsts in the past three weeks—have a legitimate shot to win this series.

Have the Columbus Blue Jackets rediscovered their swagger?

As if expecations for the Columbus Blue Jackets weren't enough at the end of last season, the way the team started their 2013-2014 campaign certainly had to be disappointing. After just missing out on the NHL playoffs to then division rival Detroit by the narrowest of margins, many people believed that not only was this the year Columbus would return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a vengeance.

Yet, while the Jackets limped their way to a 2-5 record to open the season, the boo birds were out in full force once again ready to point their collective fingers, first at goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (even if it wasn't necessarily deserved) and then at head coach Todd Richards. How could a team that finished last season by winning eight of their last nine games start out so poorly?

But it appears that after last night's 4-1 win(their second straight, bringing their record to 4-5), the Jackets may have regained some of the swagger they had at the end of last season. Marian Gaborik, having scored his fourth goal already last night, appears to be the scorer that fans had hoped Rick Nash would turn into. Brandon Dubinsky proved that not only can he score when called upon to do so, but that he doesn't take crap from anyone. (His takedown in the 3rd period of Devils defender Anton Volchenkov was absolutely bad-ass.) And it is definitely nice for the CBJ to have their enforcer, Jared Boll, back on the ice as well.

The biggest takeaway from last night's game, however, is that even while up 3-1 in the 3rd period, the Jackets weren't content to sit on the lead. They took it to New Jersey until the final horn. Which is why I believe they might have rediscovered their swag.