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Break up those red hot Blue Jackets

Jay Bouwmeester, Jeff Carter

Calgary Flames’ Jay Bouwmeester (4) and Columbus Blue Jackets’ Jeff Carter (7) chase a loose puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game on Monday, Nov. 21, 2011, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

AP

All right so it’s not exactly like the Bruins’ nine-game win streak, but the Blue Jackets winning back-to-back games is rare enough as it is. After beating Calgary 4-1 last night, it marked the first time Columbus won back-to-back games since February 18-25, 2011 when they won three in a row.

For a team in desperate need of wins to save everyone’s job and to prevent a team-wide shakeup from going down, a couple wins does a world of good and it’s Jeff Carter and Curtis Sanford they’ve got to thank for it.

After going silent and dealing with injury, Carter has goals in two straight game including two against Calgary. After snapping out of his goal funk in the Jackets’ 4-3 overtime win against Nashville, it looks like maybe, just maybe, he’s feeling at home in Columbus. That makes for a drastic change considering it was just last week there were rumors that he wanted out of town.

The team’s other hero is journeyman goalie Curtis Sanford. Sanford was signed in the offseason to be the team’s third string goalie and AHL starter. Instead, he’s been the backup to Steve Mason and when given the chance to play has looked strong even in losses. While he’s not expected to be a savior, they just need average goaltending especially since Mason was giving them below-average efforts as it was.

It’s not ground breaking play from Columbus, but the bar is low and wins coming at anytime are good things. At the very least, with the Isles stinking things up they may not be the worst team in the league for long.