[link_box id=”22277″ site_id=”17″ layout=”link-box-third” alignment=”alignright”]The Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Minnesota Wild on New Year’s Eve, pushing their winning streak to 15 while also halting Minnesota’s streak at 12. The NHL-leading Blue Jackets now are tied for the second-longest single-season winning streak in NHL history and ended the month of December on an insane run.
Longest Single-Season Win Streaks
17: PIT (Mar 9–Apr 10, 1993)
15: NYI (Jan 21–Feb 20, 1982), PIT (Mar 2-30, 2013), @BlueJacketsNHL (active)— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 1, 2017
Just two wins separate the Blue Jackets from matching the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 17-game run from back in 1993. The Penguins had some pretty recognizable names assisting them during their win streak, including Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Kevin Stevens, Ron Francis and Rick Tocchet. The Blue Jackets don’t have those kinds of names on the roster, but they’ve received big performances from Cam Atkinson, Alexander Wennberg, Nick Foligno, Brandon Saad and a complete team effort from just about everyone.
The Blue Jackets’ run is almost too good to believe. In the month of December, the Blue Jackets didn’t lose. They closed out the month with an insane 14-0-0 record with 11 of those wins coming in regulation. Perhaps the most impressive win the Blue Jackets picked up was a 7-1 win at home against the Penguins.
A 15-game winning streak can’t happen unless a team performs well in all aspects of their game. They’ve been awesome at home (14-3-1) and on the road (12-2-3). Their power play is converting 28% of the time (first in the NHL) which is helping cover up their very average penalty kill (81.4% – 16th in the NHL). If intangibles are the main focus, the Blue Jackets have passed the eye test. They’re doing everything it takes to win and they’ve managed to do it again. And again. And again.
There’s no telling how long the Blue Jackets can keep this going, but they are a legitimate threat to overthrow an NHL record which seemed to be unbreakable in the modern NHL.
