Columbus Blue Jackets' points streak under Rick Bowness grows: Takeaways

In a little more than two months, the Blue Jackets have gone from an utterly frustrated bunch to one of the NHL’s most confident teams with the NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs in sight. More: Columbus Blue Jackets top Seattle Kraken, stay in playoff spot: Replay Putting it in hockey parlance, they’re an absolute wagon after climbing from last in the Eastern Conference to third in the Metropolitan Division, and nobody’s beaming more than Rick Bowness , the head coach who left the ease of retirement Jan. 12 to rejoin the NHL’s coaching ranks.

“They make it easier coming out of retirement,” Bowness said after the Blue Jackets’ 5-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken on March 21 at sold-out Nationwide Arena. “I love coming out of retirement for this. This is awesome.

We’re all having fun, right? ” A big road matchup March 22 against the New York Islanders means there’s little time for the Blue Jackets (37-21-11) to enjoy their fourth straight win and 12th straight game earning points, but there’s enough to review what’s happened in Columbus the past two months. Bowness didn’t just leave retirement.

He docked his boat in South Florida, got a thumbs up from his wife, Judy, and walked away from a studio gig on TNT to take over the bench for a last place team brimming with talent and lacking two qualities that now make these Blue Jackets a difficult matchup. Structure and confidence. “I mean, ever since we hired ‘Bones,’ what are we, like 18-2-4 or something like that?