Cole Sillinger scored his eighth goal of the season but the New Jersey Devils scored four unanswered goals, all in the second period, to beat the Blue Jackets 4-1 at Nationwide Arena on Friday.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| NJ DEVILS | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
1st Period
Sillinger opened the scoring with his eighth goal of the season at 4:21 with a fantastic left-circle wrist shot after receiving a phenomenal no-look backhand pass from Yegor Chinakhov.
Silly with the first goal of the night! #CBJ pic.twitter.com/IxTjBbcldS
— Bally Sports Columbus (@BallySportsCBUS) January 20, 2024
Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins had a strong first period, stopping all 10 shots he faced and posting 1.08 goals saved above expected, per moneypuck.com.
After the first period, the Blue Jackets led 1-0 despite being outshot 10-5.
2nd Period
John Marino tied the game at 0:28 after the Blue Jackets couldn't pounce on a loose puck in front of their net.
Johnny Hockey doing work in Columbus. pic.twitter.com/cSqZYAN4RS
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 20, 2024
Sillinger nearly scored his second of the game at 5:36 when Johnny Gaudreau found him wide-open in front of the net, but Devils goalie Vitek Vanecek made the save.
After he snuck behind Chinakhov and Damon Severson at the right circle, Alexander Holtz tapped in a great pass by Cal Foote into a wide-open net to put New Jersey ahead 2-1 at 8:40.
Holtz puts it home. pic.twitter.com/V6AyJljdyY
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 20, 2024
Adam Fantilli nearly tied the game on the power play at 12:12 with a shot from the right circle but he hit the far post.
The Devils doubled their lead at 13:31 when Nico Hischier blocked Andrew Peeke's clearing attempt and fired a shot past Merzlikins from the top of the circles that the Columbus netminder will want to have back.
Nico Hischier: good at hockey. pic.twitter.com/RwPKvJIMoZ
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 20, 2024
After Jack Roslovic failed to clear the puck, Kevin Bahl threaded the needle to find Nathan Bastian, who was unbothered in the blue paint to put the Devils up 4-1 at 14:43.
Big Bass and the boys are buzzin pic.twitter.com/kUHuIfmeSp
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 20, 2024
The Devils led the Blue Jackets 4-1 after two periods and took a 24-18 advantage in shots on goal into the final frame of regulation.
3rd Period
Kirill Marchenko had a golden opportunity to cut into the Blue Jackets' deficit at 3:05 but Vanecek denied him from the right doorstep.
Vanecek made another fantastic save, this time on Damon Severson's left-point blast with under nine minutes to play, where he was out of position but recovered in time to make the save.
Sillinger thought he had his second of the game at 17:41 when he deflected Ivan Provorov's shot from the point but the Devils challenged the goal for offsides and were successful.
With the loss, the Blue Jackets fell to 14-22-9.
Stats
- Shots on Goal: NJD 33-29 CBJ
- Face-off %: NJD 64.2-35.8 CBJ
- Power play: NJD 0/4-0/3 CBJ
- Giveaways: NJD 1-4 CBJ
- Takeaways: NJD 2-6 CBJ
- Blocked shots: NJD 19-19 CBJ
- Hits: NJD 11-21 CBJ
-
5-on-5 stats (via naturalstattrick.com):
- Expected Goals (xG): NJD 1.98-2.43 CBJ
- Shot Attempts (CF): NJD 46-60 CBJ
- Shots on Goal (SF): NJD 25-27 CBJ
- Scoring Chances (SCF): NJD 24-25 CBJ
- High-Danger Chances (HDCF): NJD 9-10 CBJ
Injury Update
- Boone Jenner returned to the lineup for the first time after suffering a broken jaw on Dec. 8.
- Zach Werenski was placed on IR with an ankle injury suffered on Dec. 27 and is out 4-6 weeks.
- Nick Blankenburg was placed on IR retroactive to Dec. 19 with an upper-body injury. He's listed as day-to-day.
- Patrik Laine is expected to miss six weeks with a clavicle fracture suffered on Dec. 14 and is on IR retroactive to Dec. 14.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets travel to Edmonton to begin their Western Canada road trip on Tuesday and face the Oilers at 9 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Ohio.
The club heads south to face the Flames in Calgary on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Ohio.
