At this time of year, there are a handful of teams that take on the role of spoiler. They’re not going to the playoffs, but they have opportunities to impact the playoff race for others.
Take the Columbus Blue Jackets, for example. They’re not yet mathematically eliminated, sitting 13 points out of the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, five teams ahead of them and 10 games remaining. But they’ve managed to have something of an impact on other teams in the race, most recently the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames.
After beating the Canucks on Thursday, the Blue Jackets defeated the Flames 3-2 in overtime on Saturday.
Former Flames Rene Bourque scored twice, including the game winner, for Columbus.
Calgary still gets the single point, to sit two back of the Canucks, who hold onto second place in the Pacific Division with their win in L.A. However, the Flames’ failure to secure two points could be big. The Kings are just two back of Calgary, with a game in hand.