Foligno talks Blue Jackets' surge on NHL @TheRink podcast

The Columbus Blue Jackets have won five games in a row and have a League-high 34 points (15-2-4) since Dec. 9. Their captain, Nick Foligno, explained why Columbus' season has turned around after an 11-14-4 start on this week's episode of NHL @TheRink.

"You know what I think it was? It was a lot of different guys struggling at the start of the year, and I think unfortunately and fortunately when we had all the injuries it kind of banded us together," the forward said in an interview with podcast co-hosts Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke. "Now you're not thinking about the struggles, you're thinking about how are we going to survive? How are we going to get through this? How are we going to find a way to stay afloat? I think we just became a really good team.
"You saw our team defense really come to life and then our goalies played outstanding. When you have that mix of timely goals and a team mindset, I think it shows anything is possible. We've been big believers in that, and it's made it a lot of fun in our room."
Foligno also talked about Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins, who is 8-2-0 with three shutouts, a .955 save percentage and 1.51 goals-against average since taking over for the injured Joonas Korpisalo as Columbus' No. 1 on Dec. 31.

"I think he likes the limelight, but he's learned in this league that you can't go chase it, you have to let it come to you," Foligno said. "Early in the season he was trying to make his statement of 'I'm here and I'm playing well.' It didn't quite get off the gates. Now I think with the opportunity he got with Korpi going down, he's just allowed himself to let it come to him, and now he's starting to get all these accolades."
U.S. Women's National Team forward Kendall Coyne Schofield also joined Rosen and Roarke on the podcast, which they recorded Tuesday.
Coyne Schofield, who is an analyst for NHL Network and on San Jose Sharks broadcasts, will play in the Elite Women's 3-on-3 presented by adidas during the 2020 NHL All-Star Skills presented by New Amsterdam Vodka at Enterprise Center in St. Louis on Friday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS).
Ten of the best American women players will go head-to-head against 10 of the best Canadian women players in a 20-minute 3-on-3 game, the first of its kind at NHL All-Star Weekend.
"There are 20 elite women that are going to put on a show for the fans in St. Louis, and the fans that are going to be watching," Coyne Schofield said. "That's the other factor, it's a huge rivalry. It's going to be intense. Sometimes the All-Star Game can be fun; this is going to be fun, but at the end of the day, it's going to be intense because once you put on your nation's colors, all bets are off."
Rosen and Roarke also discussed the All-Decade series being released daily on NHL.com, focusing on the Game of the Decade, Coach of the Decade and Franchise of the Decade.
They brought it back to current events in the League by talking about the Blue Jackets' success, the Carolina Hurricanes in the wake of forward Justin Williams' return and defenseman Dougie Hamilton's injury, and Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane's place among the pantheon of United States-born players after he got his 1,000th NHL point on Sunday.
The podcast is free, and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms. It is also available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.