from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,

Columbus has been a bit of an NHL backwater since entering the league in the last wave of expansion, the only team in the league which has yet to make the playoffs. As of Wednesday morning, they are on the outside, looking in, but hovering on the fringes of the playoff race.

Or, as coach Ken Hitchcock puts it, they are like players at a blackjack table — down to their last chip, when they double down and win and suddenly, they’re back in the game.

“There are teams in the playoffs right now, in the top eight, and our feeling is that one or two of them are not going to be there,” said Hitchcock. “We just have to find a way to manufacture points and if we can keep doing it, we’re hoping somebody trips up.”

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