New Jersey Devils Take On Columbus Blue Jackets After Great Home Win

Last night the New Jersey Devils played notched one of their most exciting wins at Prudential Center this season. Their offensive explosion continued as they skated to a 7-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Jack Hughes earned bragging rights over his brother Quinn with a two-point night.

The Devils are 1-1-1 against the Columbus Blue Jackets this season. Their only regulation loss came in their lone road game in Columbus this season. Both losses on Columbus’s two-game losing streak have come on the road.

Players To Watch

Oliver Bjorkstrand:

Patrik Laine would have been a perfect player for this category. Laine’s eleven-game point streak recently ended and now the Blue Jackets find themselves in a two-game losing streak of their own. Bjorkstrand will always be the player that the Devils hate to face. In the three games already this season against New Jersey, Bjorkstrand has three goals.

Jesper Bratt:

It’s no surprise seeing the Devils’ scoring leader here. Bratt entered Monday’s game with eight points in his last six games and added a goal and an assist against Vancouver. The only game he didn’t record a point in was the loss against the St. Louis Blues. Bratt also shares the team lead in points against Columbus this season with three.

Jack Hughes:

Another usual suspect here. Hughes has an eight-game point streak going back to January 31st against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He recorded a three-point performance against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night and had a goal and assist against the Canucks. Just like Bratt, he has three points against Columbus this year. Even more impressive is that he only played in two of those games, missing the first matchup with his dislocated shoulder.

Keys to Victory

Scoring Second:

We said it a few weeks ago, but whoever scores second in games featuring the Devils usually ends up winning. Entering Monday there were only three times in the past ten games has the team that scores second was not victorious. There’s a similar trend for the Blue Jackets. In their past six games (their four-game winning streak followed by their current two-game losing streak), the only game where the team that scored second did not win was their February 10^th game against the Buffalo Sabres.

Five-on-Five:

Looking over that same six-game sample, we see special teams won’t necessarily be where this game is won or lost. Over those six games, the Blue Jackets have scored three power-play goals. That includes two against Chicago, and only once since then (against Toronto on February 22nd). Over that six-game period, the Blue Jackets have only allowed two power-play goals as well, with one each in their two-game losing streak.

Full Health:

In both of their losses against Columbus this season, the Devils had notable absences. First was the already mentioned absence of Jack Hughes in the season’s first meeting on October 31st. The second was their last game together when the Devils played with a heavily depleted and short-handed roster that only included five defensemen. The Devils’ forwards and defenseman have since returned to seemingly full health. Goaltender health, however, remains a vastly different story.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets:

Forwards

Gustav Nyquist / Boone Jenner / Patrik Laine

Jakub Voracek / Jack Roslovic / Oliver Bjorkstrand

Max Domi / Cole Sillinger / Emil Bemstrom

Brendan Gaunce / Sean Kuraly / Justin Danforth

Defensemen

Vladislov Gavrikov / Andrew Peeke

Dean Kukan / Adam Boqvist

Gabriel Carlsson / Gavin Bayreuther

Goaltenders

Elvis Merzlikins

Jean-Francois Berube