Despite losing Laine and Gaudreau as top scorers, the fast-rising Blue Jackets have impressed GM Don Waddell with a offensive firepower.

On Dec. 18, the Blue Jackets ranked 26th in the NHL standings and trailed a wild-card spot by five points. After dropping eight of their last nine games, the playoffs seemed increasingly out of reach. They have gone 9-3 ever since.

A strong first two periods helped the Blue Jackets survive a third-period push from the Sharks before van Riemsdyk found the empty net.

The Blue Jackets (21-17-6) have won five straight and play the San Jose Sharks at Nationwide Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; FDSNOH, NBCSCA). They will host the Detroit Red Wings in the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Ohio Stadium on March 1 (6 p.m. ET; ESPN, TVAS-D, SN360).

Blue Jackets forward Sean Monahan is on IR with an upper-body injury. He has had a great season in his first year with the team.

Blue Jacket retain Aston-Reese for one more year at $775,000 after claiming him off waivers from the Golden Knights in the preseason.

In the Blue Jackets' electrifying 3-2 win vs. the Flyers, the biggest story of the night was the quietest player in the dressing room.

A. Don Waddell is the general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Q. Who is the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets? - + A. Dean Evason is the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Blue Jackets 'mucked' it up with Tortorella's Flyers to win by shootout on Marchenko's borrowed move from Texier: 3 takeaways

Greaves impresses again, Fantilli's hot, the top line's buzzing, Aston-Reese's injur and the Blue Jackets give 'Monty' another loss: 5 takeaways

The Flyers have had the Blue Jackets’ number going into this game as their previous two meetings resulted in a 5-3 home loss on Dec. 12 and a 5-4 overtime loss on Dec. 21. However, Evason’s team learned from those games and came into this one knowing what they needed to do to win.