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.

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

For the first time in history of their organization, the Columbus Blue Jackets have a legitimate contender for the Norris Trophy. Their top defenseman Zach Werenski is having the best start to a ...

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.

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

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Zach Werenski, whose 14 th and 15 th goals ... Kirill Marchenko's ‘Magic Wand’ clinches shootout for Columbus Blue Jackets Needing a goal to end the shootout for the Blue Jackets, Kirill ...

Blue Jackets' winning ways continue thanks to late-game heroics from Werenski and Marchenko in shootout win over Flyers.

The four-game, six-night venture begins tonight in Manhattan, as the Blue Jackets take on the New York Rangers before heading to take on the Islanders on Monday. From there, the wheels are up to Toronto for a Wednesday meeting before the trip ends a night later with a third division game Thursday in Carolina.

While the Columbus Blue Jackets can enjoy the view when they glance at the NHL standings, the New York Rangers find themselves bunched with several teams below the playoff line.

A weekly gauge of the players who are controlling substantial buzz around the league. When a player is included on this list it may not be a good thing -- it means that they are capturing a large amount of the hockey world's attention.