With the deadline passing today, the Blue Jackets were sellers, sending veterans Vladislav Gavrikov, Joonas Korpisalo and Gus Nyquist out in the past few days.
A tough start to the season doomed the Jackets to that fate, and the team still boasts the lowest points percentage in the league going into tonight's contest against the Kraken. But Columbus has posted a 5-2-2 record in its last nine games after the win over the Sabres, a sign of improved play that is too little, too late to matter in the playoff race but it is nice for a young but learning CBJ team.
"I think guys are starting to gain more confidence," defenseman Nick Blankenburg said. "Obviously I feel like you would have wanted this maybe at the start of the year, 10 or 20 games in, and not, what are we, 60?
"I just think ever since the All-Star break, I think guys have just been gaining confidence as games have gone on. I think as a group we kind of understand what we have to do to make pushes and play against good teams."
The good teams part of that is true, as eight of the nine games in the team's stretch of good results have come against squads that are in playoff positions. Having had such a rough season, the Blue Jackets have been focused on seeing improvement as it's gone on, and it seems clear Columbus is getting better at handling the ebbs and flows of contests.
"I think we know the recipe," captain Boone Jenner said after the win over Buffalo. "You know, when we do it, we have success, and we did it for the most part tonight. We had some flaws in our game, but for the most part we played a structured game and got our offense off that."
