Jackets in enviable spot of pondering playoff positioning

The French call it hors d’oeuvre. The English call it appetizer. On a Columbus hockey plate, however, the tasty preview that played out Friday night in Nationwide Arena featured fresh facial stubble more than fried mushrooms.

Blue Jackets fans of the male variety were inclined to give their playoff beards a test run as the Pittsburgh Penguins — the CBJ’s opponent were the playoffs to begin today — visited the Arch City in a potential promo of things to come.

It felt like playoff hockey two months early. Sizzling pace. Slick skill. Brandon Dubinsky mixing it up with Sidney Crosby on the game’s first shift. And Dubi clinching things with a goal off of a sneaky hesitation move in front of the net for a 2-1 overtime win.

“There’s nothing like playoff hockey, but as far as a regular-season game it was definitely amped up,” Dubinsky said of the atmosphere created by a sellout crowd of 19,188.

Even if the Jackets don’t open the playoffs against

the Pens, Friday night still offered a juicy portent of what Columbus is in store for come mid-April.

If that sounds like a guarantee, so be it. Players and coaches are loathe to talk postseason possibilities, but it would require a trap- door stunt for the Jackets to disappear into the kind of springtime oblivion that has marked all but two of their 16 seasons. Columbus can go slightly under .500 in its remaining 25 games and reach 100 points — the franchise record is 93 — which would be more than enough to qualify.

“We don’t even discuss ( the playoffs),” Jackets coach John Tortorella said earlier in the day.

“Remember, this is a team that has

fluctuated, and has been around .500 for the last 20- plus games.”

Whatevs. They are in, or I will eat the paper this column is printed on. That the Jackets already are prepared to stamp their playoff card in February leads to interesting questions that in past seasons would seldom get asked.

For instance, should Columbus focus on finishing the regular season on a hot streak to enter the playoffs with momentum? Or should the CBJ muddle along in hopes of securing the first wild- card spot, which would lock down an easier path through the first two rounds?

Again, if the playoffs began today, the Blue Jackets ( 79 points) and Penguins ( 80) would play in the first round. The top overall seed — currently

Washington — would play the wild card with the fewest points ( the No. 8 seed), while the other division leader — currently Montreal — would play the second wild card.

The question becomes whether the Jackets would rather play Pittsburgh or the New York Rangers ( sitting on 75 points) or if they might be better served to slide into the first wildcard slot, which would move them away from playing their Metropolitan Division foes and onto the Atlantic Division side, where the first two rounds would present an easier path.

There is precedent for such a late- season lapse. Last season, the New York Islanders finished the regular season 7- 8- 0, losing their last two games — and resting players in the finale — to drop one point behind the

New York Rangers and into the wild- card spot, thereby drawing Florida instead of eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh. The Isles defeated the Panthers 4- 2 to advance to the second round.

Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno said players are not focusing on which playoff opponent Columbus might draw.

“It doesn’t matter to us. This time last year we would have begged to be in the eighth spot,” he said. “If we’re playing our game, then we’d match up well with anybody, and we’ve proven that.”

Nearly one- third of the season remains, but what a refreshing change it is for longsuffering CBJ fans to debate what playoff tact their team should take.