Gameday Preview: Blue Jackets vs. Devils

The Details

BLUE JACKETS vs. DEVILS
GAME INFO
COLUMBUS: 16-33-4, 8th in Metropolitan
NEW JERSEY: 34-13-5, 2nd in Metropolitan
NATIONWIDE ARENA, 7:30 p.m. ET
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What They're Saying

Momentum has been notoriously hard for the Blue Jackets to maintain this season, but if you're going to build off a win, you could do a lot worse than the victory three nights ago against the Maple Leafs.
The Blue Jackets shrugged off a forgettable first period that included a two-goal deficit to earn the win. Not only did Columbus surge back for three straight goals in the second period to take the lead, the Jackets responded to the Leafs' tying goal early in the third period with a response tally that led to the victory.
It was a performance in which confidence built throughout, and the end result was a deserved victory for the Blue Jackets on a big stage, including a nationwide "Hockey Night in Canada" broadcast up north.
"For those two periods, to come here and play the way we did, I wanted this win so bad for them because they deserved it," head coach Brad Larsen said postgame. "It would have been a real deflator to come out of here and not get that win. They laid it on the line tonight, and it was a great team effort."
The key now will be to keep it going, and in a year of lessons, the hope is the Blue Jackets learned a few things while playing in hockey's biggest market. Perhaps the most notable thing to happen was that not only did the Blue Jackets surge, they kept going, answering the Maple Leafs' goal early in the third, retaking the lead and holding off one of the league's most dangerous teams down the stretch.
With one of the league's youngest teams, the Blue Jackets not only stood in the fight in a key situation, they thrived.
"That's the thing -- you gotta be in these games to feel that," captain Boone Jenner said. "We felt it tonight, where every little play mattered. We were grinding each shift and winning our battles, and we got rewarded because of it. That's contagious. We have to build on it. The first period wasn't there, but it's a gutsy win to come back like that. We just have to build on it and get ourselves in more of those situations."

Know The Foe: New Jersey Devils

Head coach:Lindy Ruff (Third season)
Season Stats:Goals per game: 3.46 (7th) | Scoring defense: 2.64 (5th) | PP: 21.3 percent (18th) | PK: 81.1 percent (10th)
The narrative:After four straight seasons without playoff hockey, not to mention just one postseason appearance in the past 10 years, the Devils appear to have come into their own. Boosted both by the draft -- No. 1 overall picks Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier -- and free agency -- the additions of Dougie Hamilton and Ondrej Palat -- New Jersey has built a team that must be reckoned with for the foreseeable future. It's a young, aggressive squad that can fill up the net and keep pucks out of its own cage.
2022-23 leaders: Hughes was predicted for stardom before being taken first overall in the 2019 draft, and he's reached it the past two seasons. This year, his 35 goals are tied for third in the league and his 67 points are ninth, but he's out right now with an upper-body injury. Jesper Bratt might be the most underrated player in the league boasting a 20-32-52 line, while Hamilton's 52 points (15 goals, 37 assists) place him fourth among NHL defensemen. Hischier, the captain, has 21 goals and 47 points on the year.
But the biggest improvement for the Devils might be defensively, as the squad was 29th in the league a year ago with 3.68 goals allowed per game. In net, Vitek Vanecek has brought stability, as the Czech netminder is 22-5-3 with a 2.32 GAA and .916 save percentage.
What's new:The absence of Hughes, who is listed as week-to-week, certainly is something the Devils must overcome. New Jersey comes in riding a heater, though, as the Devils have points in 15 of the last 17 games (12-2-3) while posting 3.82 goals per game in that span. Defensively, New Jersey is allowing just 2.76 goals per game in the last 17, and the pairs of Brendan Smith and Damon Severson as well as Hamilton and Jonas Siegelthaler are in the top 30 in the league in expected goals percentage.
Trending: The teams have met once already this year, and it was a low point for the Jackets, who suffered a 7-1 loss in Newark on Oct. 30 before heading to Finland for the NHL Global Series games. Before that, though, the Blue Jackets dominated the series, posting a 24-7-1 record since the teams moved into the Metropolitan Division in 2013-14.
Former CBJ:None

3 Keys to the Game

Scoring depth: Columbus got contributions from veterans and rookies alike in the win Saturday over Toronto. That's the winning recipe for the squad this year.
Play with confidence: You could tell the Jackets were filled with belief as Saturday's game went on. In pro sports, sometimes if you think you can, you can.
Slow them down: New Jersey showed earlier this year that it can pile up the goals if you don't slow them in transition. It's a big key to facing the Devils.

3 Stats to Know

• Columbus is in for a battle for the team's goal lead down the stretch. Jenner leads the way with 15, with Patrik Laine, Johnny Gaudreau and Kirill Marchenko right behind with 14. A darkhorse? Kent Johnson is now up to 11 tallies on the season.
• Marchenko's first assist of his rookie season Saturday means he finished tied for the second most goals in NHL history before notching a helper. With 13 goals before that assist, he tied Pittsburgh's John McKinnon (1926-27). In addition, his 14 goals are the most in franchise history for a player in his first 30 NHL games.
• Milestone watch: Sean Kuraly is two games from 400 for his NHL career (48-64-112, 398 GP). … Mathieu Olivier is four games from 100 in his NHL career (6-10-16, 96 GP).

Who's Hot

With Marchenko (14 goals) and Johnson (11) both in double digits, this is the third time in CBJ history that two rookies have at least 10 goals. The previous instances were 2000-01 (Serge Aubin and David Vyborny, each with 13) and 2016-17 (Pierre-Luc Dubois with 20 and Sonny Milano with 14). … Marchenko's 14 goals are tied for fifth-most ever for a CBJ rookie with Milano (2017-18). He has five goals in the last seven games and is second in the league among rookie goal scorers behind only Seattle's Matty Beniers (17). … Gaudreau (2-7-9) has points in seven of the last nine games, and he ranks tied for eighth in the NHL in assists since Nov. 10 with 9-32-41 in the last 41 contests. With 50 points (14-36-50) in 53 games, he has set the franchise record for fewest games played to record 50 career points, surpassing the mark set by Ray Whitney (56 GP in 2001-02). … Johnson's 26 points (11-15-26) are the 10th-most ever for a CBJ rookie with Derick Brassard (2008-09). He ranks tied for fifth in the NHL in goals among rookies and is also tied for fifth in points. … CBJ rookies lead all NHL teams in goals and place second in points with 32-33-65 in 53 games. … Columbus is 2-5-3 all-time on Valentine's Day.

This Day in CBJ History

Feb. 14, 2012: Columbus posts a 2-1 win over St. Louis in Nationwide Arena, with Derek Dorsett scoring the winning tally at 6:49 of the third. James Wisniewski also scored, while Steven Mason made 31 saves.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)
Johnny Gaudreau - Boone Jenner - Kirill Marchenko
Kent Johnson - Cole Sillinger - Patrik Laine
Liam Foudy - Jack Roslovic - Emil Bemstrom
Eric Robinson - Sean Kuraly - Mathieu Olivier
Tim Berni - Erik Gudbranson
Nick Blankenburg - Andrew Peeke
Gavin Bayreuther - Adam Boqvist
Elvis Merzlikins
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratches:Lane Pederson, Vladislav Gavrikov (trade-related reasons)
Injured reserve:Gustav Nyquist (upper body injury, out indefinitely); Yegor Chinakhov (high ankle sprain, out six weeks as of Dec. 21); Carson Meyer (oblique, out six to eight weeks as of Jan. 11); Jake Bean (shoulder, out four to six months after surgery in November); Jakub Voracek (upper body, out indefinitely); Zach Werenski (shoulder surgery, out for season); Justin Danforth (shoulder surgery, out for season)
Roster Report:The team announced Tuesday morning that Gavrikov would be held out. Pederson has arrived in Columbus but the Jackets will use the same lineup as Saturday night's win, including Merzlikins in net.