Whether or not Columbus makes it to the postseason or not, they've certainly given their fans a lot of late-season excitement. Monday's win over Colorado was no exception as the Jackets coughed up a third period lead allowing two goals, the second a late PP tally with just a little more than two minutes left, before RJ Umberger knotted the game up sending the contest to OT. Nick Foligno would wrist home the game-winner with less than half-a-minute left in the extra session giving Columbus the extra point and putting them in a tie with Detroit with 47 points on the season.

All looked lost after Nikita Nikitin was whistled for high-sticking at the 17:34 mark of the third giving Colorado a late man-advantage in a tie game. Jamie McGinn cashed in giving the Avalanche the lead and putting Columbus, who need to keep winning to have a shot at the playoffs, in a tight spot. RJ Umberger made the play of the day haowever, rescuing his Blue Jackets teammates and keeping the club afloat in the playoff race.

Umberger got in behind the Colorado defense and took a pass from Ryan Johansen springing him on a partial breakaway. He took it to the goal and beat J.S. Giguere with a backhand shot and gave new life to the Jackets.

If there's been a goal scored this season by a Blue Jacket that has meant more to this team than Umberger's, I can't think of it. In fact, this moment has the potential to be one of those that fans remember for years;assuming Columbus caps off their resurgance with a berth in the postseason.

Mark Letestu also tallied for Columbus and Blake Comeau scored his first goal as a Blue JAcket, briefly giving Columbus the lead early in the third period.

Cody McLeod, whose play earned him a promotion to the Avalanche's top line, had two goals for Colorado and Ryan O'Reilly contributed two helpers.

That's two straight wins for the Blue Jackets on the road and four consecutive victories overall. Columbus is back at it tonight with a game at Anaheim against the Western Conference's current #2 seed. The Ducks should be sufficiently motivated tonight as they draw closer to sewing up a Pacific Division championship and the guarantee of a top-three seed it would bring. They are currently six points up on LA with six games to play and a game-in-hand. There may not be much pressure on the Ducks to get two points tonight but I'm sure they'd just as soon clinch the division as quickly as possible. I don't anticipate Anaheim letting down.

Meanwhile, the team the Jackets are chasing in the standings, Detroit, is also on the road as they have a date in Calgary with the Flames. Columbus has to hope that a slumping Calgary squad who has dropped seven of their last 10 can step it up tonight and surprise Detroit in regulation. The Jackets need Detroit to start losing out on some points to have any chance of catching them for the final spot in the West.

Their chances per Sports Club Stats stand at 17.9% of making it to the playoffs. Dallas' chances are actually better than Columbus' despite having two fewer points in the standings as the Stars have two games-in-hand on the Jackets. Needless to say that tonight's game is huge for Columbus. Then again every one of the club's last 10 games or so have been pretty big.

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