The Best Blue Jackets Moments of 2017

What a year it was for the Blue Jackets in 2017, from the ice to the front office.
It encompassed everything from the tail end of the NHL's second-longest winning streak to the Jackets' first playoff regulation victory to Jack Johnson winning a shootout in November in the ninth round against the Detroit Red Wings.
A lot happened with the Blue Jackets in the past 12 months, so here's a look back at 10 things to remember from 2017:

RELIVING THE STREAK
The 16-game winning streak, and 18-game point streak, both ended Jan. 5 in a 5-0 loss against the Washington Capitals.
The game before, the Jackets had extended the streaks with a 3-1 victory against the Edmonton Oilers on Jan. 3 at Nationwide Arena. So, at least one of those wins happened in 2017, and that's reason enough to look back at just how impressive it was.
Between Nov. 29, 2016 and that loss to the Capitals on Jan. 5, the Blue Jackets won 16 straight games, outscoring opponents 64-27 (including shootout goals) and getting game-winning goals from 10 separate players.
They rattled off eight straight wins at home to set a new record for consecutive wins at home, and went 10-0-1 on the road from Nov. 20 to Dec. 31 to set a new road points streak of 11 straight games.
Columbus, which went a perfect 14-0-0 last December, also made sports history on New Year's Eve a year ago. The Jackets defeated the Minnesota Wild, 4-2, at Xcel Energy Center for their 15th straight victory. It ended a 12-game winning streak for the Wild, in the first game ever played in the NHL, NBA, Major League Baseball or NFL between teams with win streaks of at least 12 games.
RECORD-SETTERS
Sure, they stumbled a bit down the stretch. That doesn't mean last season wasn't one of the most memorable in the history of the Blue Jackets' franchise.
They set franchise marks in wins (50) and points (108), finished third in a highly-competitive division race and qualified for the playoffs for the third time in team history.
They also set records for home winning streaks on two separate occasions, winning seven straight at Nationwide Arena from Oct. 21 to Nov. 18 and then winning eight in a row at home Nov. 29 to Jan. 3 during a 16-game game winning streak that was the second longest in NHL history.
There were some remarkable individual accomplishments, too, headlined by Bobrovsky. He went 41-18-5 to win his second Vezina Trophy, set the Jackets' franchise high for goalie wins and won 14 straight games during the Jackets' record winning streak.
What Columbus did last season established a new standard going forward, which was impressive to watch.
REAPING THE AWARDS
The 2016-17 season didn't end the way the Blue Jackets hoped, with a loss to the Penguins in the first round, but it was still one of the best overall seasons in franchise history. They set a franchise record for points in a season (108), rattled off a 16-game winning streak and established a new standard of on-ice success.
They also had did pretty well at the NHL Awards presentation in Las Vegas, bringing home four individual awards.
Captain Nick Foligno became the first player to ever win the King Clancy Memorial Award and Mark Messier Leadership Awards in the same season - with the first as voted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association and league broadcasters and the second chosen by Messier himself.
Bobrovsky won his second Vezina Trophy as the league's best goalie, while coach John Tortorella received the Jack Adams Trophy as coach of the year - each winning the respective trophies for the second time.

SHOPPING FOR 'BREAD'
The Blue Jackets were the surprise story of last season, but their bold moves weren't contained to the standings in the Metropolitan Division.
They had a big trick still up their sleeve in the offseason, when the front office agreed to a blockbuster trade with the Blackhawks to acquire Panarin. Hours before the 2017 NHL Draft was to commence inside United Center, the Blackhawks' arena, the deal was completed and announced.
Columbus sent two-way power forward Brandon Saad back to Chicago as their main portion of the deal, while Chicago agreed to send Panarin to Columbus - after signing him to a two-year contract extension last season.
Panarin needed some time to adjust, on and off the ice, but is starting to emerge as the kind of star player the Blue Jackets hoped to land in the deal. He leads Columbus through 39 games with 34 points (10 goals, 24 assists) and has taken over in some big games with his vision, shot and playmaking abilities.
The Blue Jackets also acquired forward Tyler Motte in that trade, and he's contributed as a versatile player up front.
ANOTHER FIRST
The Blue Jackets had been to the playoffs before. They'd even played the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round before.
What they hadn't done until last season's Game 4 of the first round against the Penguins was win a Stanley Cup Playoffs game in regulation. They came close in Game 3 at Nationwide Arena, on April 16, but Jake Guentzel scored in overtime to give Pittsburgh a 3-0 series lead.
Two days later, Guentzel scored late again, but that one just brought the Penguins to within 5-4 with 28 seconds left in the third period. The Blue Jackets didn't allow another goal, and celebrated their first postseason regulation victory with their fans.

ALL-STAR PERFORMANCE
The Jackets had two players voted onto the Metropolitan Division team, as defenseman Seth Jones made his NHL All-Star debut and Bobrovsky was one of two goalies. Columbus got a third player on the roster, as well, when Atkinson was chosen as an injury replacement for Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin.
Atkinson celebrated his NHL All-Star debut with five points, including three goals, to help the Metro win the 3-on-3 tournament and split the $1 million prize between the team's players. Bobrovsky also played well, including a daring move to keep Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand from getting to a loose puck near the blue line in the Metro's defensive zone.
Bobrovsky used a nifty spin-o-rama move to clear the puck out of harm's way.

PRIMARY PURPOSE
The Blue Jackets needed a big game from one of their stars. After losing on home ice to the New Jersey Devils on Dec. 5, they visited New Jersey a couple days later to conclude a home-and-home set.
It was the second matchup of the week between the Metropolitan Division's top two teams, and the Jackets got even thanks to Artemi Panarin, who dished out a franchise record tying five primary assists in a 5-3 victory at Prudential Center.
Columbus fell behind, 2-0, in the first period, but stormed back to score five of the game's next six goals - all set up by Panarin, whose assists went from 13 to 18 for the season. That's exactly the kind of performance the Blue Jackets were hoping to get when they traded Brandon Saad back to the Chicago Blackhawks on June 23, 2017 to acquire Panarin.

'BOB' GOES FULL MATRIX
There are great saves, even better than great saves and then there's the stuff Bobrovsky pulled out of his bag of magic tricks in Detroit on Nov. 11 and Montreal on Nov. 14. The Jackets' goalie made saves in these games that had video production guys working overtime on the replays.
Both were key in victories to the start the Jackets' season-high six-game winning streak, starting with his stop in 3-on-3 overtime against the Red Wings during the game Johnson won in a shootout. After a turnover, the Red Wings got a 2-on-0 break against Bobrovsky that looked like it would end the game in Detroit's favor.
Instead, Bobrovsky somehow played both options, anticipating a pass back to Andreas Athanasiou just in time and pushing back across to just get his right skate on the puck for an acrobatic save.

Three nights later, in Montreal, he faced a 2-on-1 in the third period and again anticipated the pass back perfectly. Bobrovsky ditched his goal stick, lunged back to his right and just made the save with his blocker to protect the lead.

JACK TO THE RESCUE
It was one of those goalie-dominated games, when the Jackets' Sergei Bobrovsky and the Detroit Red Wings' Jimmy Howard kept trading big saves to keep the score tied. Eventually, it went to overtime and then a shootout.
And then the shootout seemed like it would never end, lasting nine rounds before it was decided. Scoring the winning goal for Columbus was a guy many wouldn't have guessed: defenseman Jack Johnson. As Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella started running out of shooters, Johnson's name kept coming up on the bench, thanks to assistant coach Brad Larsen and Cam Atkinson.
"'Lars' was telling me, and Cam Atkinson's telling me, 'Jack Johnson, Jack Johnson,'" Tortorella said. "I said, 'I'm not using Jack. There's some other people.' And when I asked Jack, he just turned around and said, 'I'm good.' I said, 'Are you any good at these?' and he said, 'Yeah, I'm good.'"
Tortorella rolled the dice, and Johnson rewarded his decision - scoring with a deke to the forehand to beat Howard and end a memorable game.

BANNER YEAR FOR GIVING BACK
When it comes to contributing to the betterment of the Columbus area, the Blue Jackets are second to none thanks to the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation, the charitable arm founded in 2000 that raises funds to support youth health and wellness initiatives in central Ohio - including local youth hockey programs.
This year, the Foundation donated a record $1.2 million in grants to 29 local non-profit organizations, headlined by a $230,000 grant to KidSMILES Pediatric Dental Clinic in northwest Columbus. The clinic serves low-income families.
The amount in total grants surpassed the $1,050,000 the Foundation donated in 2016, earning CBJF the "Outstanding Foundation," award for 2017 from the Central Ohio chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP).