FINAL: Devils 4, Blue Jackets 3 (SO)

The Blue Jackets dropped a 4-3 game in a shootout against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday night at the Prudential Center in Newark.
Game in a Paragraph
Columbus built a 2-0 lead in the first period only to see it disappear in the second as the Devils took advantage of transition play and a couple of CBJ breakdowns to take a 3-2 lead. Columbus tied the score in the third, though, before the game went to a shootout. It took seven rounds but Jesper Bratt finally won it for the Devils. The Blue Jackets finished with a season-high 55 shots on goal but lost their fifth straight game (0-2-3).

Quote of the Game
Head coach John Tortorella: "We'll take the point, but you always want two. But I don't have a (complaint) about the game other than getting caught up in -- it's a skilled team we're playing against, and we played their game a little bit in the second period. But for the most part, we forced them to play ours and we forced them into grinding, and that's where we're going to have our success."
CBJ Notables
Quick Recap
Columbus wasted little time getting on the board, making it a 1-0 game 2:28 in on Peeke's first goal. Pierre-Luc Dubois made a fantastic diagonal pass across the zone to spring Sonny Milano in alone on Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, and Peeke followed up Milano's saved shot by burying the puck past Blackwood with a cool finish.

The Blue Jackets then made it 2-0 at 6:19 of the first as they scored off a faceoff win. The puck worked itself to Werenski in the left circle and he fired past a screened Blackwood to double the lead.
Columbus had some chances to add to the lead in the first, but Blackwood made a pad denial on Boone Jenner on the power play and then dove backward into the crease to cover up a shot by Markus Nutivaara that had snuck behind him.
And those were chances the Blue Jackets rued when the Devils took a 3-2 lead in the second. New Jersey got on the board just 1:20 into the frame with a nice transition move, as Kyle Palmieri sprung Kevin Rooney into the zone with speed, and he laid it off to Joey Anderson in the right circle to fire past Elvis Merzlikins and make it a 2-1 game.
After a goal by Dubois was ruled out for being kicked in, the New Jersey fourth line then tied the score at 3:51. Peeke was outnumbered behind the net and lost the puck, leading to Rooney shooting it on net, and Nick Merkley was on the doorstep to fire the rebound past Merzlikins and make it a 2-2 game with his first career NHL goal.
Columbus also had some chances on a power play in the middle of the period, but Blackwood again denied a golden chance for Jenner on a rebound, while Oliver Bjorkstrand fired high over the cage from close range later in the man advantage.
The Devils then took a 3-2 lead at 11:55 on another transition goal. Jesper Bratt deked through David Savard at the blue line and got the puck to Nico Hischier in the right circle, and the 2017 No. 1 overall draft pick dropped it to Palmieri for a bar-down finish.
There were chances each way early in the third, perhaps none better than a 3-on-1 for New Jersey eight minutes into the period, but Merzlikins slammed the door on Miles Wood in front.
Columbus then got the goal it needed to tie the score with 11:15 to go. Scott Harrington stepped up to keep the puck in the zone before Bjorkstrand fed an onrushing Stenlund as he snuck behind the Devils' defense, and the Swedish forward made no mistake putting a shot past Blackwood to make it a 3-3 game.
Despite 21 CBJ shots on goal in the third period, the game went to overtime. There, Merzlikins came up huge with back-to-back breakaway stops on Damon Severson and Jack Hughes before the game went to a shootout.
It took seven rounds to find a winner in the skills competition. Dubois scored for the CBJ as the second shooter before Nikita Gusev kept it going in the third round with a goal. Finally, Bratt tallied past Merzlikins with a nice move and Milano fired wide to end the game.
3 Takeaways
1. The feeling among Blue Jackets fans will be that the team let a point slip away, and Peeke admitted it felt that way to him as the Blue Jackets lost a 2-0 lead in what seemed like a flash early in the second period. "I mean, with a 2-0 lead going into the second period, I think two points is the only result that is acceptable for this game." As Tortorella said above, the Blue Jackets got into trading chances with New Jersey in the middle period, and as the coach added, "They ended up scoring on theirs, and we didn't." For Peeke, it's a defensive attention to detail, as the Blue Jackets have made a few key errors in the last few games while ending up on the wrong side of the score sheet. "That second period, we kind of slipped off the wagon a little bit," Peeke said. "We had a couple of breakdowns, and that's all it takes in this league."
2. Another glass half empty, glass half full game for the Blue Jackets offense. Columbus put 55 shots on net, a new season-high by a full eight shots, but end up with three goals. After just 14 goals over the last eight games, three goals is pretty good, but it wasn't enough on this night to get the win. Part of it was the splended play of Blackwood, who was really good, but it continued a trend of the Blue Jackets getting good looks but not enough finishing. "I mean, we have over 30 scoring chances," Tortorella said. "Blackwood is the story of the game. We had more grade-A (chances) tonight than we've had in probably three or four weeks."
3. So it's five games in a row now for the Blue Jackets without a win, though the team does have points in three of those and have by and large done some really good things in that stretch. A third straight overtime loss is frustrating, and the team is starting to look as though it's a bit spooked by extra time, as the team's 12 losses in OT are tied for the most in the NHL. "We wanted to put it in reverse the whole time, which I don't understand," Tortorella said of his team's overtime play. "That needs to be corrected." The biggest thing for Tortorella, though, is the team has to stick with it. The results aren't there right now, but belief has gotten this team a long way, and it can't fall apart now with 22 games to play and the Blue Jackets holding a wild card spot. "You can't get frustrated," the head coach said. "I thought a big part of that game, we developed a ton of offense and had good checking. We just have to stay with it."
Notable
The Blue Jackets have points in 27 of 31 games (19-4-8). ... Peeke became the seventh Blue Jackets player to score his first career NHL goal this season. … Gus Nyquist got an assist to give him 200 helpers in his NHL career. … Bjorkstrand has a 12-5-17 line in his last 15 games. … Dubois has 18 points in his last 14 road games (5-13-18). … Nutivaara has a goal and an assist in his last three games after just three points in his first 25 contests. … Columbus did not take a penalty for the sixth time in 60 games this year. ... New Jersey hadn't scored multiple goals vs. Columbus since Dec. 8, 2017, a span of eight games in the series. ... Columbus had won nine straight vs. the Devils including six in a row in New Jersey. ... The Devils traded captain Andy Greene to the Islanders before the game and dealt the team's co-leader in goals, Blake Coleman, during the game to Tampa Bay.
Roster Report
The Blue Jackets kept the same lineup as Friday night's game vs. New York. Scratches were forward Kole Sherwood, defenseman Gabriel Carlsson and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo (injury).
Up Next
The Blue Jackets face another Metropolitan matchup on Tuesday, taking on Philadelphia in the City of Brotherly Love.