COLUMBUS, Ohio — A collection of notes, insights, ruminations and did-you-knows gathered throughout the week that was for the Columbus Blue Jackets:

Item No. 1: Flawed

As the 2025-26 season ticks away, the Blue Jackets — still somehow alive in the playoff chase — are left hoping that another team falters so that they may sneak into postseason for the first time since 2020.

This season is coming to a close like too many of their games this season.

There are times when the Blue Jackets look fit and fast and strong and deep with talent. But when the big moment arrives — when it’s time to stand and deliver, or time to throw the knockout punch — it’s too rich for them.

They retreat. They play the clock/calendar instead of the opponent. And there are always too many days or too many seconds on the clock for that approach. The third period collapses, and this season’s end, seem inevitable.

Something is missing, or something is not right, about this collection of Blue Jackets.

There are really good players in that dressing room, players any NHL club would proudly claim as their nucleus of talent — Zach Werenski, Adam Fantilli, Kirill Marchenko, Charlie Coyle, Sean Monahan, etc.

Last season, the Blue Jackets missed the playoffs by one win (two points), but it felt like a major accomplishment following the preseason tragedy that took the life of Johnny Gaudreau. Those Blue Jackets were expected to be a lottery club.

These Blue Jackets, by the players’ own words last fall, said that missing the playoffs would represent a “failure.” If they hadn’t gone on that massive 19-3-4 run once coach Rick Bowness was hired, it might not sting so much.

A 3-8-1 tailspin since March 22, makes it more than a failure, though. The Blue Jackets have chased a playoff spot at the end of a few seasons, but they’ve never had one in their hands and dropped it like this.

If the Philadelphia Flyers earn at least one point — that’s a win or an overtime or shootout loss — in either of their last two games, the Blue Jackets are eliminated. The Flyers host Carolina on Monday and Montreal on Tuesday.

Let’s pretend the Flyers lose on Monday in regulation. In that scenario, the Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals would meet on Tuesday in Nationwide Arena in what could be a play-in game, should the Flyers also lose in regulation to the Canadiens.

Imagine: NHL legend Alex Ovechkin, who could be retiring after this season, playing potentially his final NHL game with a chance to extend his career and the Caps’ season by earning a playoff spot and a first-round matchup with Pittsburgh.

That’s the type of game that, on the surface, seems a little too rich for these Blue Jackets.

After Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Boston Bruins, Werenski shared some interesting thoughts in an otherwise quiet dressing room. He was asked how the Blue Jackets’ fast start — they dominated most of the first period — seemed to fizzle out.

“I don’t really know,” Werenski said. “I think we needed to up our urgency a little bit. I thought in the third we had a lot of Grade A chances to either take the lead or tie it back up. We missed on a few of them.

“Their so-called fourth line had all three goals for them. We have to do a better job of limiting that when a line like that is going, but I don’t really know how it got away from us. I feel like we stuck to our game plan for a lot of it, but I just feel like our intensity needed to go up.”

The follow-up question was: How can the intensity not be through the roof for a game like Sunday’s, when the season is on the line?

“It’s a good question,” Werenski said. “Intensity might be the wrong word. The desperation … I feel like we were prepared and worked and were probably the better team for 60 minutes.

“But certain plays, certain moments in a game, understanding the time and circumstances … those little moments in a game or in a season that might come back to hurt you. I definitely felt like we were ready to go and ready to play, but just some key plays at key times, we couldn’t get a hold of it.”

Werenski, more than captain Boone Jenner, has become the spokesperson for the Blue Jackets. That’s a tough task in a season like this. There are no easy answers, no delicate way to say that too many players tended to shrink into the shadows when the lights got too bright.

The blown third-period leads. The last-minute meltdowns. The inability to play consistently at a high level down the home stretch. It may all be a symptom of the same infection.

Unless a near-miracle happens over the next 48 hours — two Philadelphia regulation losses, a Blue Jackets home win over the Capitals — GM Don Waddell can get started on a momentous offseason in Columbus.

There are contracts to negotiate, a coaching staff to reassemble, trades to ponder, etc. But there’s a more tedious task of figuring out what’s keeping this dressing room from fully thriving.

Item No. 2: Wait, what?

Let’s be clear that the bizarre ending to Sunday’s loss almost certainly didn’t cost the Blue Jackets a chance to score the tying goal. But it was a calamity, and there hasn’t yet been a sufficient explanation.

With 19 seconds remaining and the Bruins leading 3-2, the Blue Jackets had goaltender Jet Greaves pulled for an extra attacker and a faceoff set for the left circle in the Boston zone. Just before the puck was dropped, Werenski said he heard two whistle chirps behind him.

Veteran NHL referee Gord Dwyer was in position approximately 10 feet behind Werenski, which is where Werenski said he heard the whistles. He looked back toward Dwyer just as Dwyer turned to have a conversation with the Boston bench.

That’s when the puck dropped.

“(Dwyer) is a great ref,” Werenski said. “That’s obviously not why we lose the game. I have nothing but respect for him. But I was very confused.

“When you hear two whistles behind you, the play stops. I turned to look and he’s obviously talking to their coach about a timeout. Next thing I know, the puck is out of our zone and I’m chasing it in our corner.”

Blue Jackets players lingered on or near the bench for about a minute after the final buzzer, even as the Bruins headed to their dressing room and the officials skated through the tunnel to their room.

Bowness said the officials insisted to him that nobody blew a whistle. But, if not, then why did Dwyer turn away from the play? There’s no review process for something like this, either, Bowness lamented.

“It’s a small thing, right?” Werenski said. “But we score in Detroit with (16.2) seconds left on a faceoff play (last Tuesday). Who’s to say we don’t keep it in and score?

“Like I said, it’s not the reason we lose. It’s an unfortunate ending. I don’t know why they can’t go back and watch it — he clearly blows it — and put the time back on the clock. But I guess that wasn’t in the cards.”

Item No. 3: Farewell, FanDuel

Tuesday’s regular-season finale against Washington will air on ESPN+, so it’s quite possible that Sunday’s game was the last game involving the Blue Jackets to be broadcast by FanDuel Sports Network.

The only way FanDuel would air another game is if the Blue Jackets got into the playoffs, in which case Steve Mears, Jody Shelley, Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre, Dave Maetzold and Brian Giesenschlag would work the first-round series.

Because of that uncertainty, the broadcast crew and the many behind-the-scenes staffers who have brought the Blue Jackets to life on TV the past several seasons weren’t able to say a proper goodbye at the end of Sunday’s broadcast.

It’s an uncertain future for many of the FanDuel employees, other than the fact that they won’t be working for FanDuel next season.

The regional sports network has landed in bankruptcy court, which has made for an ongoing saga all season. They literally went week-to-week wondering if they still had jobs or a reason to show up at the rink.

At some point this summer, the Blue Jackets will announce their TV plans for 2026-27 and beyond, whether that’s another RSN stepping to the fore or whether they carry the burden of production for their own games, in which case they’d likely partner with a local over-the-air channel.

The only assurances the Blue Jackets have given are that they will be televised next season, one way or the other. It’s unclear, however, how many of the familiar faces will be part of the next project.

Mears, Shelley and Grand-Pierre are Blue Jackets employees, so they would appear safe. Maetzold, Giesenschlag and about 15 others — producers, director, camera operators, graphics, audio, etc. — are FanDuel employees who are now at risk.

For most, covering the Blue Jackets and working in the NHL is more than a job, it’s a passion project. It’s a tough business, though. Hope it works out this summer.

Item No. 4: Snacks

• The Blue Jackets landed one of the top college free agents on Sunday when they signed 6-foot-3, 216-pound forward Josh Eernisse to a one-year entry-level contract. Eernisse, who had spent the past three seasons at the University of Michigan, signed a pro tryout agreement with AHL Cleveland that will allow him to play for the Monsters in the final week of the regular season and in the postseason. Eernisse, 24, had 11-8-19 with 37 penalty minutes and a plus-17 rating in 38 games with Michigan. Most don’t expect significant offensive production in the NHL, but see a hard-working, physical forward who tends to irritate opponents with his pace. He might reach Columbus quicker than some expect.

• Eernisse won two Big Ten tournament championships and was part of two Frozen Four clubs, including this season, when the Wolverines lost to Denver on Thursday in the national semifinal. He also won the Big Ten’s Sportsmanship Award this season for his “character and conduct” on and off the ice, and he’s a three-time all-Big Ten academic honoree.

• If Tuesday’s game vs. Washington still has playoff implications, you have to wonder if the Blue Jackets may have a surprise in store regarding right winger Mathieu Olivier, who has been out since March 29 with a broken bone in his hand. Olivier is getting close, and he’s been trying to talk his way into the lineup. The Blue Jackets won’t listen if Tuesday’s game is meaningless. But if the Flyers lose in regulation on Monday…

• Werenski (22-59-81) heads into Tuesday’s game with 59 assists, tied for the franchise’s single-season record. Werenski had 59 last season, too, while Artemi Panarin had 59 in 2018-19. For a while, it looked like Werenski was going to track down Panarin’s single-season points record (89), but his pace has slowed since the Olympic break. Even so, he and Panarin are the only players to have 80-point seasons for Columbus, and each of them have done it twice.

• Wouldn’t it be something if Ovechkin’s final NHL game — just like his first NHL game on Oct. 5, 2005 — was played against the Blue Jackets? Ovechkin, fittingly, scored two goals in his NHL debut. He also hit Blue Jackets defenseman Radoslav Suchy so hard at the end of his first of the game that play was stopped in order to fix a dislodged piece of glass in the old MCI Center. By his standard, Ovechkin has had pretty modest numbers against Columbus: 28-18-46 with a minus-6 rating in 53 games.

• This week’s Monday Gathering trivia question: It’s been a struggle down the stretch for Kirill Marchenko, but, with 27 goals, he’s set to lead the Blue Jackets for a third straight season. Only two other Blue Jackets have led the club in goals for three straight seasons. Name them.

• It seems like it was weeks ago now, but Tuesday’s comeback win in Detroit was worth remembering. Adam Fantilli’s goal with 16.2 seconds remaining forced overtime, and Zach Werenski ended it in the shootout. It marked the 10th time in franchise history that the Jackets have scored in the final minute of regulation, then went on to win in overtime or a shootout. It was the third-latest goal in those games, too, On March 22, 2016, Cam Atkinson scored with :08 remaining and the Blue Jackets went on to beat Philadelphia 3-2 in a shootout. On Nov. 1, 2017, Sam Gagner scored with 16.0 seconds remaining in an eventual 3-2 overtime win vs. Dallas.

• It was a big week for Jenner, who was nominated for both the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy and King Clancy Memorial Trophy. The Columbus chapter of the Pro Hockey Writers’ Association nominated Jenner for the Masterton, which is awarded to the NHL player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. It’s Jenner’s second career nomination, joining Nick Foligno (three times), Kevin Dineen (two) and Zach Werenski (two) as the only multi-time nominees. The King Clancy, as nominated by the Blue Jackets, is awarded to the player “who best exemplifies leadership on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution to his community.” It’s his second nomination for the King Clancy. The winners will be announced at the NHL Awards show this summer.

• Trivia answer: One should be obvious, of course. Rick Nash led the Blue Jackets in scoring for eight consecutive seasons (2003-04 to 2011-12). The other? Oliver Bjorkstrand, who led the Jackets in scoring in 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22.