Time: 7:00 PM EDT Venue: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio, 43215 / A five-game winning streak hasn't yet clinched a playoff spot for the Columbus Blue Jackets, but it has them sitting in the driver's seat in the three-team chase for the two wild-card berths. Heading into its home clash with the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, Columbus (45-30-4, 94 points) holds the first wild-card position, with a one-point lead on the Carolina Hurricanes and two-point bulge on the Montreal Canadiens. All three squads have three games remaining. The Blue Jackets, who will be playing their sixth game in 10 days and have played games in all four time zones in the last two weeks, are coming off an impressive 4-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday. With their busy schedule, combined with the level of opposition in Buffalo, the potential for a letdown was there, but the Blue Jackets overcame a sluggish start en route to a convincing win." We know what's at stake for us with playoff positioning and even making the playoffs," defenseman Zach Werenski told NHL.com. "It's a huge two points for us. I don't think we're going to take any games as trap games from here on out. We want to win every game for the rest of the season." Boston (47-23-9, 103 points) has lost two straight and three of four games, the latest setback a 6-3 loss decision to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. The Bruins are essentially cemented in second spot in the Atlantic Division -- although Toronto has an outside chance to change that -- and are destined to face the Maple Leafs in the first round of the playoffs. It's the wrong time for the Bruins to start struggling." We don't want to finish like this, we want to finish strong," goalie Jaroslav Halak said after Sunday's loss. "That wasn't our game. We all know that." With three games remaining in the regular season and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs at stake, these struggles could be what the Bruins need to snap back into focus." I don't know if it's complacency with being in the playoffs, but I certainly think that there's momentum carried into the playoffs, and we've got three games regardless of our opponent to tune ourselves up so that we hit the ground running in the playoffs," forward David Backes said. "I think we need to take a step back, take a breath and know what kind of effort it takes to win in this league, and have 20 guys on that page when we come back and play the Columbus Blue Jackets." Columbus has an outside chance of catching the Pittsburgh Penguins for third in the Metropolitan Division, currently sitting three points behind. With the goaltending they are receiving, from Sergei Bobrovsky, it's possible. In his last 11 games, Bobrovsky, the NHL's first star of the week, has nine victories while surrendering only 14 goals on 323 shots (.957 save percentage). He has an NHL-best nine shutouts on the season, one shy of the franchise record, including three in his last five starts and four in his last seven." I'm not going to lie. It's nice to have it, but the team success is most important," Bobrovsky said. "I'm enjoying this stretch, enjoying the games when it means something. It's so much fun to play, so I am just happy to be part of this team right now." --Field Level Media
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