The Columbus Blue Jackets seem to be relishing their role as spoiler lately.

The Jackets are 5-2-2 in their last nine contests and have a +4 goal differential in that span.

And it’s not as if the schedule has been cake, either. Columbus’ last five wins came against Toronto, Winnipeg, Dallas, Edmonton and Buffalo. 

The Jackets will get another chance to dent a team’s NHL playoff hopes on Friday night when they play host to the Seattle Kraken, who are fighting to get into the playoffs and also to keep their outside chances of winning the Pacific Division alive. 

(7 p.m. Eastern)

For the entire season, the biggest issue with the Blue Jackets has been their inability to defend. Only two teams in the NHL (Vancouver, Anaheim) allow more goals per game than the Jackets, who also rank 28th in the NHL in expected goals against at five-on-five.

The good news for Columbus is that the Kraken are struggling to create offense.

After going on a terrific run in the middle of the season thanks to a sky-high shooting percentage, the Kraken’s offensive output has slowed down considerably.

Seattle went 4-6-1 through February and scored 2.8 goals per game in that span.

That’s a tough spot for the Kraken to be in considering their goaltending, which sits in the bottom-five in the NHL according to save percentage, leaving them very little margin for error.

The Blue Jackets seem hellbent on continuing to play spoiler and they have value as an underdog on Friday night.