PREVIEW: Blue Jackets continue homestand vs. New Jersey

DEVILS (18-20-7) at BLUE JACKETS (27-15-3)Tuesday, 7 p.m., Nationwide Arena (FOX Sports Ohio, CBJ app, FOX Sports app, 97.1 The Fan)
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A lot can happen in a week. Just ask the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Since last Tuesday afternoon, the team lost in Tampa, assessed a one-game vacation to goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, got their captain back, watched their coach win his 600th game, answered a lot of questions across the league by defeating two straight division leaders, saw the best player in franchise history retire, honored said player, and then gutted out a closer-than-it-probably-should-have-been victory to cap it all off Sunday.
That seems like a lot, but it wasn't to team captain Nick Foligno.

"It's not been that strange," Foligno said against the home win against the Rangers on Sunday. "I think it's more talked about, but for us it really hasn't been any different. We have work to do, and whoever is in the lineup doesn't change what each guy has to do. We're playing some good hockey right now.
"I'm really proud of this group right now that we seem to be gaining some confidence here on how we need to play of late. The recipe is really working for us."
For management, the belief is the week can have a galvanizing effect on the team. Head coach John Tortorella called it a "really good week" because of how the Blue Jackets handled it.
In short, they addressed it head-on, then put it behind them.
"When (stuff) happens, you end up communicating," Tortorella said. "Some stuff happened that went the wrong way, went off the tracks, and I really like just the way the organization handled it, from the players -- obviously it concerned Bob, I thought Bob handled it well. When you're trying to handle the problem, face it head on as we all did and then move on, that's healthy.
"I've always said I think when there's a conflict or something that just isn't right and we're off the rails, not so much on the play on the ice, but I think those are important moments for an organization to make sure, 'OK, let's get to business, let's straighten this and let's move on.' Because something else is going to happen next week somewhere along the way and you have to handle that. This was good one for us. I think it comes at the right time."
Coincidence or not, the team's play has hit another level over the past week as well, starting in the Blue Jackets' eyes with a second period in which it outshot the league-leading Lightning by a 17-3 margin but just couldn't score any goals.
On Thursday at home vs. Nashville, which entered leading the Central Division, Columbus finally got off the power-play schneid, getting two man-up goals including one in overtime in a 4-3 win. Two days after that at Washington, the Blue Jackets and Joonas Korpisalo turned aside the Capitals thanks to another power-play goal in overtime by Artemi Panarin, who became the first CBJ player ever to score an overtime goal in back-to-back games.
Then against New York on Sunday, in a game where Tortorella said the litmus test would be the team's energy level, Columbus had plenty on the way to a 7-5 victory that wasn't really as close as the final score would indicate.
"We're taking each day at a time, but we knew we didn't play our greatest in Tampa," winger Cam Atkinson said. "We played one really good period, probably the best period of the year, then we came back and we stuck with it and played against some of the best teams in the league of late and we found ways to get it done. Even if it's not the prettiest, we have to continue to do that leading into the break."
Perhaps most encouraging is the fact the Blue Jackets got contributions from up and down the lineup in the wins. As examples -- Korpisalo played two of his best games of the year in the wins vs. Nashville and Washington, Boone Jenner had a multi-goal game against the Predators, and 13 different players had a point in the win vs. the Rangers.
To sum it up, "It helps you grow as a team whenever there's any issues," Atkinson said, "because you have to resolve it as a team. So it's been good. We've found ways for guys to contribute and I think that's most important."
Know the Foe
New Jersey enters Nationwide Arena having won two in a row, including last night in an 8-5 home win vs. Chicago. Both wins came with Mackenzie Blackwood in net after the rookie goalie missed three games with a lower-body injury.
Since Blackwood made his first start Dec. 20 vs. Columbus, he's been a bit of a revelation for the Devils, with the 22-year-old going 5-2-0 with a 2.25 GAA and .935 save percentage. The goals-against average is an impressive number given the Devils overall are 26th in the league in goals allowed per game. Keith Kincaid, who was pulled from the last game between the teams Dec. 23, is 13-13-6/3.07/.899
Up front, reigning NHL MVP Taylor Hall, and his 37 points are likely out as he battles a lower-body injury. Kyle Palmieri is the top goal scorer and has been a pain for the opposition all year with 22 goals including two last night, while former No. 1 overall pick Nico Hischier has 13-19-32 line and Blake Coleman has 16 tallies.
The Devils are still just tied for sixth in Metropolitan Division with 43 points, which knots the team with the Rangers.
Notes
Columbus is 11-3-1 in its last 15 and 6-1-1 in its last eight home games ... Columbus has won the previous two games in the season series on Dec. 20 (2-1 in Columbus) and Dec. 23 (3-0 in Newark), and the CBJ is 17-6-0 vs. the Devils since the two joined the Metropolitan Division. ... The Blue Jackets are 5-1 in their last six games vs. Metro foes. ... Head coach John Tortorella is set to coach his 285th game in charge of the team, which will pass Ken Hitchcock for the franchise record. ... Sergei Bobrovsky has all three Blue Jackets' shutouts vs. the Devils in franchise history.
Blue Jackets projected lineup
Artemi Panarin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Cam Atkinson
Anthony Duclair - Alex Wennberg - Kevin Stenlund
Nick Foligno - Boone Jenner - Josh Anderson
Oliver Bjorkstrand - Riley Nash - Lukas Sedlak
Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Ryan Murray - Markus Nutivaara
Scott Harrington - David Savard
Joonas Korpisalo
Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched: Dean Kukan
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