PREVIEW: Blue Jackets look to steady the ship in New Jersey

BLUE JACKETS (15-15-1) at DEVILS (13-16-5)

The Blue Jackets have lost consecutive games against two of the best teams in the league in Carolina and Tampa Bay.
They have to make sure that the next team to beat them isn't themselves.
GAMEDAY GUIDE: Christiansen set to make NHL debut vs. Devils
When things go bad in a sport as cutthroat as the National Hockey League, it can be difficult to right the ship and not let one loss become two, two become three, etc. Head coach Brad Larsen has acknowledged that, and his take is the only team that can pull the Blue Jackets out of a skid that now includes just three wins in the last 13 games is Columbus itself.
"That's our job," he said. "Honestly, you're going to have to work your way out of this. Nobody is going to hand you some wins because you've lost some. There are other teams going through losses, some really good teams that I've seen. So there's one way through it. It's rolling your sleeves up."
There's also no denying it's been a tough stretch for the Blue Jackets, who played Tuesday night's game without its entire top defensive pair (Zach Werenski and Jake Bean), its hottest forward (Alexandre Texier), its top goalie (Elvis Merzlikins) and a number of other pieces in Justin Danforth, Gregory Hofmann, Gavin Bayreuther and Daniil Tarasov.
It appears that only Bean -- who did not play Tuesday because of illness -- of that group will be back in time to play the Devils tonight, but that's the landscape of an 82-game NHL season, especially one with all the COVID issues the league is currently facing.
"We're in it right now," Larsen acknowledged after the game Tuesday. "Nobody feels sorry for you. I'm certainly not going to sit here and feel sorry for ourselves. We have to play again. We have to practice tomorrow and we're going to play again, and then after that we're going to play again. If guys are in there and they're feeling sorry for themselves or woe is me, then we're going to be in trouble.
"I always go back to, there's a lot of guys that are playing right now that have told me they can play at this level and they want to play at this level. They want to play big minutes at this level. Now is the time to show it. Some guys are showing things and some guys are not."
And if there's anyone who knows a thing or two about keeping morale up, it's Jakub Voracek. The Czech forward is slated to skate in his 1,000th game tonight, which means he's seen a thing or two in his time in the NHL.
Because of that, he's able to offer valuable perspective on where the team is and what it's going through as it tries to right the ship after giving up seven goals in consecutive games for the first time in team history.
"Honestly, it's frustrating, but we are not in a bad spot here," Voracek said. "We had three tough road trips. The schedule was really hard. And right now we have a .500 team with a lot of games at home, so we have to make sure we get back on track the way we played in the first 20 in the season, and have to be battling for playoffs. I would say it's been frustrating, but everyone goes through that in a season, unless you're Tampa or Washington.
"It happens. We are a young team. We have to find a way to switch it to another gear, and I'm pretty sure it's going to happen (tonight) in Jersey."

Know the Foe

With an infusion of talented youth and the offseason acquisition of star defenseman Dougie Hamilton, New Jersey came into the year as a chic pick to move up the Metropolitan Division standings and threaten for a playoff spot.
The Devils have made just one postseason appearance in the last nine years, and the bad news is it looks like despite all the promise on the roster -- including a pair of No. 1 overall picks in Nico Hischier (2017) and Jack Hughes (2019) -- the skid is likely to continue into a 10th season. The Devils enter this game with Columbus tied for sixth in the Metro, five points out of a playoff spot and 10 behind the fourth-place team in the division, Pittsburgh.
New Jersey was 7-3-2 through its first 12 games, but the wheels have largely come off since, with the Devils winning just six of the next 22 contests (6-13-3). The team has won three of its last four, two in overtime, but defense has been a struggle with the Devils allowing at least three goals in 10 straight games.
In all, New Jersey is in the bottom half of the league in every major stat but penalty kill, where they're 13th at 81.3 percent. The Devils are 19th in the NHL in scoring (2.88 goals per game), 26th in team defense (3.44 goals allowed per game) and 30th in power play (14.3 percent). There's also tough injury news afoot, with Hamilton (broken jaw) and Hischier (lower body) out of late along with goalie Jonathan Bernier (hip) and forwards Yegor Sharangovich and Pavel Zache (COVID protocols), though Hischier will return tonight.
That leaves New Jersey without three of its top 10 scorers, but leader Jesper Bratt (9-21-30) is having an impressive age 23 season and Toronto import Andreas Johnsson (9-12-21) has been a good puckup. Hughes has played only 17 games because of injury but has been impressive with eight goals and nine assists, including a 3-6-9 line in the last four games. Dawson Mercer (9-10-19) also adds depth while Damon Severson (5-9-14) and P.K. Subban (2-11-13) add offense from the blue line.
Bernier has played in 10 games this year, but with him out, Mackenzie Blackwood is the clear No. 1. The 25-year-old in his fourth NHL season is 8-7-3 with a 3.32 GAA and .895 save percentage in 20 games (19 starts). Six different goalies have played for New Jersey this season, and none have a GAA below 3.00.