The Olympic break is over, America won the Gold Medal, and now it's time to get back to business.
Although the Columbus Blue Jackets don't play until Thursday (we hope), there will be eight games on Wednesday night to kick off the sprint to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Of note, the Devils, Capitals, and Flyers will all be playing on Wednesday. The Capitals, however, will be the only one of those three that can pass Columbus and drop them a spot before they even take the ice on Thursday in Boston.
Let's take a quick look at the Metro and Wild Card Standings.
Metropolitan Division
- Carolina Hurricanes - 36-15-6 - 78 Points - 8-0-2 Last 10 - Won 3 Straight
- Pittsburgh Penguins - 29-15-12 - 70 Points - 7-1-2 Last 10 - Won 1
- New York Islanders - 32-21-5 - 69 Points - 6-4-0 Last 10 - Won 2
- Columbus Blue Jackets - 29-20-7 - 65 Points - 9-1-0 Last 10 - Won 7
- Washington Capitals - 29-23-7 - 65 Points - 5-4-1 Last 10 - Won 1
- Philadelphia Flyers - 25-20-11 - 61 Points - 3-4-3 Last 10 - OTL 1
- New Jersey Devils - 28-27-2 - 58 Points - 4-6-0 Last 10 - Lost 3 Straight
- New York Rangers - 22-29-6 - 50 Points - 2-8-0 Last 10 - Lost 4
Wild Card Standings
Atlantic
- Tampa Bay Lightning - 78 Points
- Montreal Canadiens - 70 Points
- Detroit Red Wings - 72 Points
Metro
- Carolina Hurricanes - 78 Points
- Pittsburgh Penguins - 70 Points
- New York Islanders - 69 Points
Wild Card
- Buffalo Sabres - 70 Points
- Boston Bruins - 69 Points
- Columbus Blue Jackets - 65 Points
- Washington Capitals - 65 Points
- Ottawa Senators - 63 Points
- Toronto Maple Leafs - 63 Points
- Philadelphia Flyers - 61 Points
- Florida Panthers - 61 Points
The Blue Jackets will start playing again on Thursday and then again on Saturday to end the month. In March, though, is where the real fun starts, where they'll play 17 games in 31 days. Luckily, nine of those games will be at home.
Don Waddell has only 5 games left until the trade deadline, so he'll need to decide whether he is a buyer or a seller. Indications are that he will not sell, though, and that's what fans want to hear. But they also want to see the team get better, and in order to do that, he'll need to most likely part with a player that people won't expect.
Buckle up.
Next Up For Columbus- The Columbus Blue Jackets will play the Boston Bruins on February 26th at 7 p.m.
Stay updated with the most interesting Blue Jackets stories, analysis, breaking news, and more!
Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News and never miss a story.
Let us know what you think below.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.