The Columbus Blue Jackets have missed the playoffs in five straight seasons. They looked like contending for a wild card spot last year, but eventually fell two points shy of clinching it. They were hoping to equal that points tally from last season and solidify their playoff chances this year against the Boston Bruins on Sunday.

But the Blue Jackets surrendered in what looked like a routine win. Having gone up 3-0 in the first period, the Bruins mounted a spirited comeback in the third before winning the game 4-3 in a shootout. They leapfrogged the Blue Jackets into the top Eastern Conference wild card spot and left Columbus at 87 points.

Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bowness didn’t mince any words following his team’s fourth loss in five games (1-3-1). He called out to his players to develop a playoff mindset, as many on the roster have yet to taste playoff success in their NHL careers.

“We got away from being aggressive, and I thought we got very selfish with the puck,” Bowness said. “Some of these guys, they’ve got a lot to learn about how to play in this league at this time of year.

“It gets harder and harder and harder, and we’re going to keep reminding them and reminding them every day how hard it is to win at this time of the year, and you just can’t get away. I hate it when we play on our heels, and we were back a little bit. Give them credit. They started coming, but there’s a lot to be learned from some of these guys, and they better damn well start listening.”

Bowness’ frustrations stem from the fact that the Blue Jackets dropped their game on Saturday against the San Jose Sharks in a similar fashion. They held a 2-1 lead after the second intermission, but let the Sharks come back into the game and eventually take a 3-2 win with a winner at 18:35 in the third.

Blue Jackets players express their disappointment after surrendering 3-0 lead

Captain Boone Jenner stated during the postgame interviews that is imperative that the Blue Jackets leave the loss behind them and look to consolidate their footing in the final eight games left in the regular season.

“It’s a tough loss, obviously, and we know what’s at stake,” Jenner said. “We are where we are right now. We can’t change the games where we didn’t get points, right? We have eight huge games here the rest of the way. We have to learn from tonight and we need to get better in order to get some more wins down the stretch.”

Jenner was guilty of taking a tripping penalty with 42 seconds left in the game, which led to Pavel Zacha’s second and game-tying goal. Leading up to the goal, the Blue Jackets tried to dump out the puck, with the nervousness showing in front of the home crowd. With eight games left, that is one emotion that needs to take a back seat.

“There was a reason we were up 3-0,” Coyle said, “and it’s because we were doing the right things and playing the right way. We’ve got to stick to it. And we had the talk in between period, like, ‘Let’s stay on it.’

“They’re a good team. They’re going to push and play well and press a little bit, but it’s up to us, no matter what happens, to just stay on it. We can’t be turning pucks over like that and giving them easy transition.”

Columbus has played eight times in the last 13 days. They will get a rest day on Monday before they are off to face the division leaders, Carolina Hurricanes.