The team's win streak ended in early January when they lost 5–0 to the Washington Capitals. The win streak was the second longest in NHL history behind the 1992–93 Pittsburgh Penguins' 17 consecutive games. The team finished with a record of 50–24–8 and 108 points, setting a franchise record. During the first round of the 2017 playoffs, the Blue Jackets were placed in a matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team lost three straight games to begin the series, but won the fourth game to save themselves from elimination. This game in which they won 5–4 marked the Blue Jackets' first regulation win in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Despite this, they would ultimately lose the series in five games. In the following off-season, on June 23, 2017, the Jackets made another deal with the Blackhawks sending Brandon Saad back to Chicago for Artemi Panarin and Tyler Motte. The Blue Jackets returned to the playoffs in 2018 as a wild card qualifier, going in back-to-back years for the first time. There they faced the Metropolitan Division champion Washington Capitals in the first round, winning the first two games in overtime and their first series lead. However, they lost the next four games and the series in six games. The Blue Jackets returned to the playoffs the following year, where they swept the Presidents' Trophy winner Tampa Bay Lightning in the First Round to win their first ever playoff series, but lost their Second Round series in six games to the Boston Bruins. The Blue Jackets would then lose long-time starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, centre Matt Duchene, and the team's leader in points, Artemi Panarin, in free agency during the 2019 off-season. On March 12, 2020, the 2019–20 season was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the remaining regular games being officially cancelled on May 26. On August 1, the season resumed and would finish following a 24-team playoff format, with the top 4 teams in each conference playing in a seeding round-robin tournament and the 8 lower-seeded teams in each conference competing in a best-of-five series, the Qualifying Round, to be held in two host cities in Canada. The Blue Jackets were qualified for the Qualifying Round, eventually defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in five games. Then, in a first-round rematch of the previous playoffs, the Blue Jackets lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games. During the 2020