The New Jersey Devils dominated in the offensive zone and applied constant pressure to Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins all game. They ended the first period with seven shots to Blue Jackets six but finished behind 1 – 0 after Ivan Provorov scored off a rebound from Zach Aston-Reese. The Devils had turned the puck over in their own zone and Columbus took full advantage.
The New Jersey Devils came out on fire in the second period peppering Merzlikins with shots from all angles but failed to score. They dominated puck possession and played their game, but Merzlikins played a solid positioning game and was able to stop the 17 shots the Devils had during the period. Instead, Zach Werenski scored a power play goal after the Devils’ Dawson Mercer couldn’t get a full clear on the penalty kill. The Blue Jackets power play was dominating this game keeping the penalty kill players on the ice for the entirety of the play. They would finish the period off by taking advantage of a turnover as Sean Monahan scored his 10th of the season to bring the score to 3 – 0.
The third period was much like the second. The Devils came out aggressive and took play to the Blue Jackets totaling 18 shots in the period. Jack Hughes had his best game of the season with a Devils record 13 shots on goal in the game with 19 attempts. His brother, Luke Hughes was second with 6. The Devils began to wear down the Blue Jackets and their goalie with their speed and sustained pressure. Head Coach Sheldon Keefe pulled goalie Jake Allen and the Devils were finally able to break through with a goal by Luke Hughes.
Just over a minute later the Devils were able to get within one when Timo Meier scored off a set up by both Hughes brothers. Unfortunately, another costly turnover 25 seconds later allowed Sean Monahan to score his 11th of the season into the empty net.
Much like the game versus the Toronto Maple Leafs the week prior, the Devils stuck to their game plan and dominated much of the game. They held the advantage in shots 42-20. They limited their opposition to 20 shots or less for the fifth straight game. Just like previous losses this season the Devils faced quality goaltending.
On the flip side, another trend continued and that is the lack of scoring outside the top two lines. The bottom two lines failed to score any points and the fourth line consisting of Nate Bastian, Tomas Tatar and Justin Dowling had only 2 shots on goal for the entire game. Both of those shots were from Dowling. Hughes cannot carry the team every night and the lack of scoring depth gets more concerning as the season moves on. The bottom two lines, although their roles are not just scoring, need to find ways to put points up when the first and second line aren’t. As the season moves on this area will need to be addressed or General Manager Tom Fitzgerald may look to the trade market to shore up their secondary scoring.
Allen returned to the game after missing time with injury and looked strong in goal. Although he gave up three goals there was little he could do to stop them.
This was another game the Devils outplayed their opponent but walked away without points. Fortunately, the Devils didn’t give up and prevented the shut out.
The Devils play their next game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday and then the New York Rangers on Monday.
