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.

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.

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

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.

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.

This wasn't the best of games by the Blue Jackets, but they fought back and defeated the Philadelphia Flyer 3-2 in a shootout.

Columbus Blue Jackets alternate captain Zach Werenski is leading the NHL in goals among defensemen this season.

Werenski scored two goals in Tuesday's 3-2 shootout win over the Flyers.

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.

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.