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 jumped up by three goals, which was too much for the struggling Sharks. The Jackets would put away San Jose 4-1.

COLUMBUS -- James van Riemsdyk scored twice, and Zach Werenski extended his home point streak to 18 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets, who won their sixth straight game with a 4-1 victory against the San Jose Sharks at Nationwide Arena on Thursday.

Zach Werenski climbs higher, the Blue Jackets are watching the standings closer and the San Jose Sharks were overmatched: 3 takeaways

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.

Kent Johnson and Kirill Marchenko scored in the shootout as the Columbus Blue Jackets rallied to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Tuesday night.

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Tyler Toffoli responded for the Sharks, who dropped to 6-13-5 on the road this season and have won just three of their last 15 games. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 30 shots in the loss. The Blue Jackets outshot the Sharks 13-6 in the first period and led 2-0 after 20 minutes.

Alex Ovechkin scored the overtime winner against Leevi Merilainen to pass Jaromir Jagr for a League record and gain ground on the NHL’s all-time goals leader Wayne Gretzky in The Gr8 Chase. The Capitals maintained top spot in the League standings over the second-place Jets,

After scoring six goals on Tuesday, the San Jose Sharks only scored once on Thursday, as the Columbus Blue Jackets won 4-1.

From an EDGE stats standpoint, Marchenko checks many boxes that explain his full-fledged breakout season after leading Columbus in goals last season (23 in 78 games); he’s their best in the category again and on pace for 32 goals (18 in first 45 games). He is among the forward leaders in the following categories: