COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Columbus Blue Jackets have failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a sixth straight season.
The Philadelphia Flyers earned at least one point in Monday night’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes by going into overtime, meaning the Blue Jackets have officially been eliminated from postseason contention. The Flyers went on to beat the Hurricanes 3-2 in a shootout, earning the last playoff spot.
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Following Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Boston Bruins, the Blue Jackets needed the Flyers to lose their final two regular season games in regulation against the Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens. On top of that, the Blue Jackets needed a regulation win against the Washington Capitals in Tuesday’s regular season finale.
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After the Blue Jackets hired Rick Bowness as their head coach in January, they were sitting near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. Bowness began his tenure as head coach with an impressive 13-2-4 record that had Columbus in playoff contention, sitting as high as second place in the Metropolitan Division.
In the 12 games since, the Blue Jackets have only won three games and find themselves on the outside looking in once again late in the season. The team faced a similar fate last year when the Blue Jackets missed a wild card spot on the final day of the 2024-25 campaign. Columbus’ last postseason appearance came in the 2019-20 season.
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The Blue Jackets’ regular-season finale at Nationwide Arena against the Capitals on Tuesday is at 7 p.m. in what many are speculating could be the final regular season game for Washington’s Alex Ovechkin, who has been hinting at retirement.
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