Thursday night, the New Jersey Devils were defeated by the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2 to wrap up their road trip and fall to 21-11-3 on the season. Despite a late push from the Devils, they simply couldn’t beat an outstanding Elvis Merzlikins.
Recap
Period One
The first period was a typical one for the Devils as of late. They got a plethora of chances that they couldn’t capitalize on. Luke Hughes had a couple great looks that he couldn’t bury. On the other side, however, Ivan Provorov was able to clean up a loose rebound in front to put Columbus on the board. It would stay 1-0 after one.
Period Two
The Devils would once again be on the front foot in the second period, as they pushed and pushed but couldn’t find the back of the net. Columbus did score though, twice in fact.
The first of the two scores was a shot from the blue line that was tipped in front by Dimitri Voronkov on the power play. The second was a bad turnover by Dougie Hamilton which resulted in a puck going to the front of the net and eventually in the net off the stick of Sean Monahan. Jack Hughes had eight shots alone in the second period, but once again nothing got past Merzlikins. It would be 3-0 after two.
Period Three
The Devils would continue to press as the third period went on with chance after chance being snuffed out by Elvis. Luke Hughes was robbed for a third time by the Latvian netminder early on and that set the tone for the remainder of the game. That is until the clock hit three minutes to go when the Devils had the goalie pulled.
After a net-front scrum, Luke Hughes buried a rebound to make it 3-1. Just a minute later, Timo Meier made it 3-2 off a tip in front. The Devils pulled the goalie once again after a timeout, but following a bad turnover by Hughes, Sean Monahan would pot his second of the game to make it 4-2.
The Devils wouldn’t score again from there and fall to the Blue Jackets.
Game Note
Hughes Supremacy
Luke Hughes has been elite as of late and he showed it tonight. Not only did he pick up a goal and an assist, but he posted a 76.47 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and a 76.08 expected goals percentage (xG%) while on the ice.
Individually, he had 0.43 individual expected goals (ixG) and eight individual corsi-for (iCF). However, those numbers don’t even touch what his brother Jack put up; 1.34 ixG and 17 iCF.
What’s Next
The Devils get a day off before returning home on Saturday to face the Pittsburgh Penguins. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 pm ET.