MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. — The next step in the Blue Jackets ' effort to become a playoff contending team again is figuring out how to win consecutively.
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Since ending a nine-game winless streak in late November, they've shown an ability in the past 34 games to avoid long losing streaks with a .471 points percentage on a 13-15-6 record. That's nowhere near where it needs to be for playoff contention, but the Jackets haven't lost more than two games in regulation since ending their skid and only have three sets of consecutive losses.
That's certainly not great, but it's also closer to where they want to go than things appeared in November. So, the next baby steps up are winning consecutive games and then stringing more than two wins together with regularity.
After downing the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Boone Jenner 's late goal Saturday night at SAP Center, the Jackets now get the opportunity to sweep their way through a three-game road trip with back-to-back games against the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"That's what we've struggled with all year," Jenner said. "You get a win and come back with another one. That's going to be the challenge on Tuesday when we face a good L.A. team. It's about stringing some (wins) together and feeling good about our game, because that's how I feel you build confidence as a group."
The Kings will likely provide the biggest challenge to the Jackets' goal of winning consecutive games.
Going into their game Sunday in Pittsburgh , they'd won three of four since replacing former coach Todd McLellan on Feb. 2 with interim coach Jim Hiller. They'll be coming off a four-game eastern road trip when facing the Blue Jackets, who flew to L.A. on Saturday following their victory in San Jose .
The Kings are also just above .500 in points percentage at Crypto.com Arena with a 9-9-6 record on home ice. The Ducks have also improved lately, but they're just 8-18-1 on home ice at Honda Center. Neither is a pushover, but the next two games should be considered "winnable" for the Blue Jackets (17-26-10).
"If we can string some wins together, we can build on it for next season," defenseman Zach Werenski said. "A lot of guys in this room, a lot of young guys, haven't really experienced winning hockey consistently (in the NHL). It would be good for them if we can get consistent wins here."
The Blue Jackets continue leaking goals killing penalties, allowing another power-play tally in San Jose, but their final shorthanded situation in that game provided an important boost.
Cole Sillinger , who's become a PK forward this season, was called for a tripping minor with 7:40 left in regulation. The score was 3-3 and it felt like that might be the impetus for another third-period letdown that sinks the Blue Jackets.
It went the other way instead, giving Columbus a boost to finish the game strong and win on Jenner's goal with 12.9 seconds left in regulation.
"That's a key moment," Jenner said of the successful kill. "That's where we've got to come together and be confident in ourselves. It hasn't been going our way. There's no secret in that, but I like the way we just battled and got the job done when it's a 3-3 game. It's a big kill."
It's been a tale of two seasons for the Blue Jackets killing penalties this season. Through their first 30 games, they were sixth in the NHL at 85.9% in 85 times shorthanded. In their past 23 games, they're last in the league at 64.3% in 70 times shorthanded.
The Blue Jackets' forward lines were split right down the middle in terms of success to start the road trip. The first two were dominant in San Jose, while the third and fourth lines struggled.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Blue Jackets held large 5-on-5 advantages in attempted shots (66.7%), shots on goal (62.9%), scoring chances (79.3%) and goals scored (4-0) with their top two lines on the ice. It was the inverse situation with the bottom two playing, including disadvantages in attempts (33.3%), shots (40%), scoring chances (11.1%) and goals (0-1).
The top two lines featured Gaudreau and Yegor Chinakhov as the top two left wings, Jenner and rookie Dmitri Voronkov as centers and Jack Roslovic followed by Kirill Marchenko as right wings.
The bottom two had Kent Johnson and Alexandre Texier as the third and fourth left wings, Sillinger and Sean Kuraly as centers and Emil Bemstrom followed by Justin Danforth as right wings. Bemstrom only played four shifts in the third period and Texier only logged two while ending his night with 10:03 left to play.
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It's not known yet whether an injury or illness contributed to that absence or if it was just a coaching decision to get more ice time for productive forwards.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Notes: Blue Jackets looking to put wins together in rebuild push
