Preview: Jackets aim to end slide in back-to-back finale vs Devils

GAME 55: DEVILS (27-18-8) AT BLUE JACKETS (27-23-4)
Location:Nationwide Arena, 7 P.M., Saturday
TV:Fox Sports Ohio/Fox Sports Go; MSG+
Radio:CD102.5 FM & BlueJackets.com
They haven't won in the past five games (0-4-1) and have fallen out of playoff position, but the Blue Jackets are focusing on how they've played recently.
Columbus has just one point in its winless stretch, but hasn't played poorly. The past three games were especially vexing, after the Blue Jackets won the shots count in each game by a wide margin. They have a shot differential of plus-45 in the past three games combined, but only seven goals on the 125 shots they've put on net (5.6 percent).
That includes a 4-2 loss to the Washington Capitals on Friday at Capital One Arena, during which the Blue Jackets outshot Washington 37-17 overall and 28-11 in the second and third periods combined.
"We're not far off at all," Columbus captain Nick Foligno said. "It's just a matter of, in order to get out of these, sometimes [you have to play] a full game, a full 60 minutes. It's weird. You can't play 59, and we've learned that."

The Blue Jackets' struggle to score goals has magnified everything they're not doing right. They might only have a couple defensive breakdowns that lead to goals, but those goals have often been critical to the outcome of games .
The Capitals' second goal Friday was a good example.
The Blue Jackets turned the puck over in the Washington zone with less than minute to play in the first period, with the game tied 1-1. The play came back into the Columbus zone, where the Blue Jackets struggled to possess it long enough to clear it.
Evgengy Kuznetsov eventually put the Capitals up, 2-1, with just two seconds left in the period.
"You let a cheesy one go in at the end of the first period," Foligno said. "You've got to find a way to play 60 minutes, and then all of a sudden, you're getting your game going. Then 57 minutes, you can play and you'll find a way to win, or [win] games [earlier] this year we've won that we probably didn't deserve. We'll get that feeling going again, but it's going to take a whole game, maybe 65 [minutes] to find it."
The Blue Jackets' loss to the Capitals bumped them from the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, after the New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes each won their games to surpass Columbus in the Metropolitan Division race.
Saturday will be "Hockey Is For Everyone" night at Nationwide Arena, and there will also be a parental backdrop to the game.
The Blue Jackets are concluding their weekend fathers' trip, which started Thursday in Washington, D.C., while the Devils are starting their mothers trip.
SERIES RECORD
2017-18 Season: (1-1-0). This is the third of four games this season. The Devils won, 4-1, on Dec. 5 at Nationwide Arena in the first game. The Blue Jackets won, 5-3 on Dec. 8 at Prudential Center in the second meeting. The finale will be held Feb. 20 in New Jersey.
All-time (W-L-T-O): 16-13-1-1 overall; 9-7-0-0 at Nationwide Arena
WHO'S HOT
Devils: Taylor Hall had a goal and assist Thursday in a 3-2 loss to the Calgary Flames to extend his point streak to five games. Hall has six points (three goals, three assists) during the streak.
Blue Jackets: Artemi Panarin scored his 14th goal of the season Friday against the Capitals, which was his fourth point in the past five games (two goals, three assists).
EYES ON: THE DEVILS
EYES ON: THE BLUE JACKETS
PROJECTED LINEUPS
DEVILS
Forwards
Taylor Hall - Nico Hischier - Jesper Bratt
Miles Wood - Pavel Zacha - Kyle Palmieri
Blake Coleman - Travis Zajac - Stefan Noesen
John Quenneville - Brian Boyle - Drew Stafford
Defensemen
Andy Greene - Sami Vatanen
John Moore - Damon Severson
Will Butcher - Ben Lovejoy
Goaltenders
Keith Kinkaid
Eddie Lack
Others:Cory Schneider (groin), Jimmy Hayes, Mirco Mueller
Injured reserve: Marcus Johansson (concussion), Brian Gibbons (broken right thumb)
BLUE JACKETS
Forwards
Artemi Panarin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Cam Atkinson
Oliver Bjorkstrand - Alex Wennberg - Nick Foligno
Boone Jenner - Brandon Dubinsky - Josh Anderson
Matt Calvert - Lukas Sedlak - Jussi Jokinen
Defensemen
Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Jack Johnson - Markus Nutivaara
Dean Kukan - David Savard
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Jeff Zatkoff
Others: Scott Harrington
Injured reserve: Ryan Murray (upper body), Sony Milano (torn oblique)