Monday, the Devils lost, 5-3 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus scored two quick goals in the third to seal the game. The loss drops New Jersey to 16-9-1 on the season.
Recap
Period One
The Devils got out to a hot start, scoring two quick goals to open the game. First, Nico Hischier got a friendly bounce on the power play to make it 1-0. Just about 90 seconds later, Ondrej Palat got the puck in front off a pass from Arseny Gritsyuk when he potted his second of the year to make it 2-0. The Blue Jackets got a power play halfway through the period where they scored after struggling for most of it. Denton Mateychuk made it 2-1. In the waning moments of the period, Timo Meier thought he had a goal, but after a goaltender interference challenge by the Blue Jackets the game stayed 2-1 which was the score after one.
Period Two
The Devils and Blue Jackets got physical in the second period. It started early where Brenden Dillon went down hard and was helped off the ice. On the preceding four-on-four Sean Monahan split the Devils defense and tied the game. There were a plethora of fights and penalties that followed this. Stefan Noesen, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Paul Cotter all got five for fighting. Siegenthaler got kicked out of the game for his jersey not being strapped down. After a few chances and lots of physicality, the two teams were tied after two periods.
Period Three
The Devils pushed to start the third period, but two quick goals by Columbus sealed it. Charlie Coyle and Sean Monahan scored 33 seconds apart to make it 3-2 and 4-2, respectively. A pumped up Prudential Center was quiet after then and the players on the ice felt it.
With eight minutes left Timo Meier got a goal that did count to make it closer, the Devils second on the power play to make it 4-3. Columbus got the goal right back as Miles Wood scored against his former team to make it 5-3 after Jake Allen turned it over. Despite a push with the goalie pulled, the Blue Jackets held on and won 5-3.
Game Notes
Backwards goaltending
Going into tonight’s game Jake Allen with 8.17 goals saved above expected (GSAx) which had him in the top 20 in the NHL according to MoneyPuck. Elvis Merzlikins had just 0.3 GSAxx which had him 45th in the NHL. However, it was Merzlikins who was the better goalie Monday night with 1.38 GSAx. Allen, on the other hand, had an abysmal -2.87.
Fight Night
After a crazy game last Monday that had a total of 40 penalty minutes (PIM) between the two teams, the Devils weren’t done yet. After a first period where each team just had four PIM, New Jersey and Columbus got into it starting early in the second with a dirty play by Dimitry Voronkov against Brendan Dillon. In the second period alone the two teams had a combined 64 PIM. In the game as a whole there was a total of 74 PIM, nearly double what seemed like a wild ride last week against Detroit.
What’s Next
The Devils next game is at home, Wednesday against the Dallas Stars at 7:00 pm ET.