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

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.

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

As the team wins more and more, the Blue Jackets have shot up the NHL standings. After the win against San Jose, they now sit in the first wild card spot and are just five points back of Carolina, who they face Jan. 23 during this upcoming road trip, for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

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

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

James van Riemsdyk scored twice, leading the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-1 victory over the visiting San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.

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

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,

Kirill Marchenko scored the deciding goal of a shootout to give the Columbus Blue Jackets a 3-2 win over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night. The Blue Jackets extended their winning streak to five games and are 9-2-1 over their past 12. Columbus is now 4-0 in games decided by a shootout this season.