"That's two of them (in a row)," head coach John Tortorella said. "Someone asked me after the last game, have you found the consistency? You don't find consistency in one game. It has to be who you are. Now we've put a couple of them together. Hopefully we can continue, and then maybe we can talk about who we are as far as that part of the game."
The performance against Washington was another strong data point, but in hockey, streaks have shelf lives. The Blue Jackets knew their recent losing streak would end at some point, and it was capped at five when Columbus won last Tuesday at Colorado.
Now it's a four-game win streak, and things aren't always going to be this sunny and rosy, either. In the course of an 82-game season, though, the aim is to lengthen the peaks and keep the valleys as small as possible.
PRACTICE REPORT: CBJ not standings watching -- yet
How is that done? By turning in solid efforts and playing as a cohesive unit. That's what the Blue Jackets did in the win against Washington.
"We just played as a five-man unit the whole game," Foligno said. "If you really watch our team, there was never somebody getting beat, it was always somebody covering for them. Forechecking, it was three guys, five guys. It was amazing. As soon as they dumped it in, it was five guys arriving. The cohesion we had tonight was as good as I've seen it, and it's a great sign going forward."
Columbus didn't skate either Sunday or Monday after beating Vegas on Saturday. The team flew back to Columbus on Sunday morning, then had the rest of the day off, and Monday's practice was canceled shortly before it was to begin because of a potential gas leak in the area around Nationwide Arena.
Perhaps Tortorella had that in mind when the team decided to cancel Wednesday's scheduled practice as well. The team will skate Thursday morning and then be ready to try to keep the good vibes going against the Islanders.
"Winning solves everything," Atkinson said. "You get days off, players are happy, guys are playing with confidence, excited to come to the rink and get better when we have days of practice. We've played the last two games against two of the best teams in the league. We have to use that and feel good about ourselves and continue to get better."
