The Blue Jackets have looked like a new team since the trade deadline.
It helps that they kept their best player.
After losing to Detroit the night after the deadline -- no shame in that -- they have won three games in a row, including Tuesday's 3-2 victory over visiting Phoenix. It's their first three-game winning streak in more than a year.
"The mood's a lot better in here," Derek Dorsett told the Columbus Dispatch. "Guys are having fun. ... We can't worry about what's in the past. Obviously, we wish we were in a better position right now. Sometimes, you sit back and wonder where it has been, but you can't dwell in the past."
Dorsett played a key role in the winning goal Tuesday even though he was horizontal at the time. Though he was lying on top of Phoenix goaltender Jason LaBarbera, Dorsett wasn't called for goalie interference and Derek MacKenzie's goal was allowed to stand.
The Blue Jackets have impressed newcomer Jack Johnson, who came over from Los Angeles in the trade for Jeff Carter at the deadline. Johnson's goal Thursday was his first for the Blue Jackets.
"This team is not that far off, I'm telling you," Johnson told the Dispatch. "I've been impressed every game. The five games I've played here, it has been a fun team to play with."
The Jackets will play Johnson's old team, the Kings, on Thursday night at Nationwide Arena. It will be interesting to see what kind of reception Carter gets in his return to Columbus.
NOTES, QUOTES
--The Blue Jackets could identify with what happened to the Coyotes at the start of Tuesday's game. Goaltender Mike Smith was pulled after allowing two goals in the first 3 minutes, 54 seconds.
--The victory Tuesday was the Jackets' second over Phoenix in a span of four days. They also defeated the Coyotes 5-2 on Saturday in Glendale, Ariz.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "We just want to keep this going, not get too far ahead of ourselves. We just want to take this day by day." -- G Steve Mason, talking with the Columbus Dispatch after the Blue Jackets won their third straight game Tuesday.
ROSTER REPORT
PLAYER NOTES:
--G Steve Mason, who stopped 38 of 40 shots in the victory over Phoenix on Tuesday, has undergone a metamorphosis in his last 10 games. He is 6-3-1 with a 2.71 goals-against average and .921 save percentage in those 10 games after going 1-7-1 with a 3.73 GAA and .880 save percentage in his previous 10.
--C Derick Brassard has points in each of the last four games (1-4-5). He had an assist Tuesday.
--D Nikita Nikitin blocked a shot with his foot in the second period and didn't come back out to the bench after the second intermission. The seriousness of the injury was not immediately known.
MEDICAL WATCH:
--D Nikita Nikitin (foot) blocked a shot with his foot Tuesday and left the game for good a short time later. There was no immediate word on the seriousness of the injury.
--LW Kristian Huselius (lower body) is out until late February.
--D Radek Martinek (concussion) is out for the season.
--D Marc Methot (broken jaw) is out for the season.
--RW Jared Boll (broken foot) is out four-to-six weeks.
