COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Columbus Blue Jackets are starting to look in front of them to see who they can catch.
Only a week ago, Columbus was simply aiming at hanging onto the final Eastern Conference wild-card playoff spot and hoping some teams behind in the standings would help out.
A 3-2 win over Detroit on Friday night, their fourth straight, put the Blue Jackets in the first wild-card spot with a one-point lead over New Jersey and just two points behind Philadelphia for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Seth Jones scored twice in the second period and Sergei Bobrovsky returned from an illness to make 22 saves as the Blue Jackets beat the Red Wings to sweep a back-to-back.