PREVIEW: Blue Jackets look to get back to winning ways in New Jersey
Columbus has won nine straight against the Devils ahead of Sunday matchup
Swagger.
And that's a trait and an attitude that captain Nick Foligno hopes his team can recapture as it heads to New Jersey to continue a key stretch of four straight games against Metropolitan Division foes on Sunday night.
"We can't forget the swagger and the work ethic and the kind of hockey we were playing when we weren't even scoring a bunch, but we were finding ways to get the job done," Foligno said. "Right now, it seems like we're shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit. The past two games, we've done some out-of-character things we haven't done in a while -- the too many men penalty (Friday night) hurt us. (Against Buffalo on Thursday) it was misreading a coverage on the first goal and some other plays.
"That's not who we are. We had this happen early in the season. I want to make sure we understand we can't go down that road. We saw what happens. It takes a while to come out of it. So let's get back to the grind and the understanding that we're going to do it as a team and it will come back to us pretty quickly."
So far, there seemingly have been clear segments to the team's season. In the first 29 games, the Blue Jackets played some good hockey but couldn't find a way to score at times and made key mistakes at bad times, and the squad got off to a 11-14-4 start that left it 11 points adrift of a playoff spot.
Then came a 29-game stretch where even through injuries, the team found a way to right itself and developed the confidence and swagger to win games. In that run, Columbus had points in 26 games, going 19-4-6 to get back on the right side of the playoff bar.
But as the injuries have added up again recently, with such names as Seth Jones, Cam Atkinson and Alex Wennberg joining the ranks of those out, goal scoring has again dried up. The Blue Jackets weren't filling up the next with the best teams in the league during their hot stretch, but they were getting enough to win; since coming back from the All-Star break, Columbus has 14 goals in eight games and has just a single goal in five of those contests.
"It's a big problem of ours is we're not scoring," head coach John Tortorella said. "We know that. We're trying. We tried hard but didn't find a way to score more than one (against the Rangers on Friday).
Because of that, it feels like a dangerous time for the Blue Jackets, but there's still a lot going for the team. Columbus still has points in 26 of 30 games and still goes into New Jersey holding down a wild card spot. But with 23 games to play, every point is crucial as the team hits the stretch run.
"We have a chance to play against two Metro teams coming up, and that's going to decide our fate," Foligno said. "You can get disappointed by this one or you can use that as motivation for the next two that we have on the road to tighten up a little more and start getting the playoff mentality going."
Know the Foe
The Devils enter the game with the fourth fewest wins in the NHL with just 21 in 57 games, as a season that started with promise has gone by the wayside.
The good news is there's a talented young core among such players as 2017 No. 1 overall pick Nico Hischier, 2019 top pick Jack Hughes, young forwards Pavel Zacha and Jesper Bratt, and 23-year-old No. 1 goalie Mackenzie Blackwood.
It's a couple of veterans who lead the way in scoring, though, as Kyle Palmieri and Blake Coleman each have 21 goals on the season. Palmieri adds 18 assists for a team-high 39 points, while Coleman -- in the midst of a second straight 20-goal season -- has 31, though he will not play vs. Columbus amid trade rumors. Captain Andy Greene, a defenseman, was traded to the Islanders on Sunday.
Hischier has been out since Feb. 1 but could return vs. the Blue Jackets; he has a 13-19-32 line, while offseason trade acquisition Nikita Gusev has 10 goals and 33 points on the season. Zacha, 22, and the 21-year-old Bratt have 25 and 23 points, respectively, while Hughes has a 7-13-20 line at age 18. In all, the team is 23rd in the NHL in goal scoring with 2.72 per game.
The real weakness has been defensively where the Devils have given up 3.42 goals per game, second worst in the NHL. Blackwood -- who is yet to start vs. Columbus this year -- hasn't been the problem as he is 18-12-7 with a 2.78 goals-against average and .912 save percentage in his second NHL campaign. It's been a disaster when everyone else is in net, as Cory Schneider, Gilles Senn and Louis Domingue have combined for a 4.12 GAA and .870 save percentage. Domingue (3-7-2, 3.86, .878) is the current backup.
3 Keys to the Game
Find some offense: The Blue Jackets have had no trouble lighting the lamp against the Devils this season, scoring five goals in each of the two matchups thus far. For a team struggling to score goals, perhaps New Jersey comes along at the right time.
Big guns firing: The reality right now is that Columbus will likely go as far as their top players - those that are left healthy - can take them. The Blue Jackets need top performances out of top players like Pierre-Luc Dubois, who has one point in the last six games and been broken up from Bjorkstrand.
Clean up the mistakes: From penalties to giving up goals at crucial times, the Blue Jackets just haven't managed the past few games all that well. This time of year, it's the key moments that prove to be the difference between wins and losses.
Of Note
CBJ goalie Elvis Merzlikins has an 8-2-1 record in his last 11 starts with just 14 goals allowed and a .957 save percentage. He leads the league with five shutouts, all in the last 11 games. … Oliver Bjorkstrand has a 12-4-16 line in his last 14 games. … Gus Nyquist is one assist from 200 in his career. … Zach Werenski leads all NHL defensemen with a CBJ-record 17 goals this season. ... The Blue Jackets' penalty kill is 26-for-28 over the last 14 games. … The Blue Jackets have lost 318 man games to injury. ... Columbus is 2-0 vs. New Jersey this season and has won nine straight against the Devils, including six in a row in New Jersey. The last loss in the Prudential Center came March 20, 2016. The Blue Jackets are 21-5-0 against the Devils since the two joined the Metropolitan Division in 2013.
Projected Lineup
(Subject to change)
Gustav Nyquist - Kevin Stenlund - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Nick Foligno - Boone Jenner - Nathan Gerbe
Sonny Milano - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Emil Bemstrom
Jakob Lilja - Riley Nash - Eric Robinson
Zach Werenski - Markus Nutivaara
Vladislav Gavrikov - David Savard
Scott Harrington - Andrew Peeke
Elvis Merzlikins
Matiss Kivlenieks
Scratches:Kole Sherwood, Gabriel Carlsson, Joonas Korpisalo (injury)
Roster Report:Sherwood will not rejoin the lineup after being recalled from Cleveland on Sunday morning, with Columbus using the same lineup as Friday night.
CLICKABLES
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- Military surprise: Sgt. Leonard Burke returns home
- One Lap with Jody Shelley: PLD
- Teammating with Dubois and Savard
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