Games that matter, 2/23/11

YESTERDAY: Not only did the Columbus Blue Jackets pull their weight (in fine form, wouldn't you say?), but they got some help from the most unlikely of places.  Let's recap:

• Blue Jackets over Predators
• Devils over Stars
• Oilers over Wild
• Sharks over Red Wings
• Coyotes over Flyers in overtime
• Avalanche over Blues
• Bruins over Flames

Beyond the 4-0 stomping of the Preds, where did the playoff assistance come from, you ask?  The Eastern Conference, in the form of:

• The New Jersey Devils, who at this point have to be kicking themselves for not having a real coach to start the season
• The retooled Boston Bruins, whose Tomas Kaberle trade from Toronto along with another trade or two has the NHL intelligentsia thinking that Boston is positioned for not just a playoff run but a streak toward the Stanley Cup itself

The other help came from the Colorado Avalanche, who could be kicking themselves for all sorts of reasons, but we as Blue Jackets fans don't care as long as they keep kicking themselves....

So good for them, good for us.  Columbus will benefit from their win, tack on the glory of its own win and watch the Blue Jackets' playoff chance percentage rise by 7.4% to 20.9%.

[NOTE: The site I follow for this daily report, SportsClubStats, has the Boston-Calgary game listed as a Wednesday game. Hence, the .8% of value to the CBJ is not contemplated in the 20.9% statistic. I'm not going to make any changes myself to the number, but it would not surprise me to check out that link and see the CBJ approaching 22%.]

Yeah, it really was a big night.  And Friday's only going to be bigger.

TONIGHT:  No CBJ game until Friday means your scoreboard watching can continue unimpeded.  In fact, this would be a great night to have the NHL's GameCenter Live package, as you can watch up to four games on one split screen!

• Kings over Ducks
• Lightning over Coyotes
• Penguins over Sharks