Don’t count the Blue Jackets out yet.
After ending a season-high, six-game losing streak by the skin of their teeth in a 4-3 shootout win over the Detroit Red Wings on April 7 at Little Caesar’s Arena, the Blue Jackets kept pace with four games left in a tightly contested Eastern Conference playoff chase.
Time’s running out on the Jackets, just as it did a year ago to leave them two points shy of the playoffs, but they’re there’s still belief in this minds looking ahead to the next game April 9 at the Buffalo Sabres..
Projections by MoneyPuck, The Athletic and PlayoffStatus, which once gave the Jackets a nearly 90% chance to qualify for the playoffs, now place that chance between 25% and 47%, while sports betting services also give the Blue Jackets underdog odds to qualify.
Here’s a look:
Columbus Blue Jackets playoff picture: Percentage forecast
According to MoneyPuck, an NHL statistics site that generates projections by simulating the remaining NHL schedule 100,000 times, the Blue Jackets boosted their chance to make it from 24.6% to 27.2% following the win over Detroit. MoneyPuck gave Columbus an 87.1% chance to make it going into a 2-1 loss on March 26 in Montreal, which they lost 2-1 to start their slide.
The Athletic uses its simulation model to play out the remaining NHL schedule 50,000 times for each projection, and its most recent odds set the Jackets’ chances at 34% to make it. That model gave the Blue Jacket a chance of 88% to make it before the Jackets started a 1-6-1 slog.
PlayoffStatus has a projection April 7 that gives Columbus a 25% chance to qualify for the playoffs as the Metropolitan Division’s third-place team. That sites gives Columbus a slight chance chance to finish second in the Metro, 21% chance to finish third and 3% chance of earning the East’s second wild card.
MoneyPuck forecasts the Blue Jackets finishing with 94.4 points, down from 94.7., while The Athletic sees them finishing with 97.9 points.
Columbus Blue Jackets playoff picture: Betting odds
Sports betting services have adjusted their odds to make the Blue Jackets favorites to miss. FanDuel still gives them +200 underdog odds to make it and -265 to miss.
DraftKings gives them +3,000 underdog odds to land the East’s second wild card, while BetMGM has the Blue Jackets as heavy underdogs to win the Eastern Conference (+3,000) and Stanley Cup (+10,000).
Columbus Blue Jackets remaining schedule
The Blue Jackets don’t have any game left against teams they’re directly competing with for a playoff spot, but do host the Capitals on April 14 to conclude the regular season.
Here’s a look at how things are going in the Blue Jackets’ final 10 games:
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets playoff tracker: How much did Detroit win help?
Reporting by Brian Hedger, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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