BLUE JACKETS (30-18-11) AT DEVILS (21-26-10) 6 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-O, NHL.TV
The Blue Jackets are 0-2-2 in their past four games. Nico Hischier returns to the Devils lineup after the center missed the past six games with a lower-body injury. The Devils lost 5-2 at the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday and are 4-2-3 in their past nine games.
Players to watch
Blue Jackets forward Oliver Bjorkstrand has three points (two goals, one assist) in a three-game point streak and 16 points (12 goals, four assists) in his past 14 games. Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood is 4-0-1 with a 1.78 goals-against average, .948 save percentage and two shutouts in his past six games.
They said it
"Right now, it seems like we're shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit. We've done some out-of-character things we haven't done in a while. The too many men penalty (in a 3-1 loss against the New York Rangers on Friday) and misreading a coverage on the first goal and some other plays (in a 4-3 overtime loss against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday)." -- Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno "It's not fun watching games; you want to be out there helping. I cut my knee (against the Dallas Stars on Feb. 1) and finished the game, but the next day I couldn't bend it. We waited for the swelling to go down; it's better now." -- Devils center Nico Hischier
The Blue Jackets placed Atkinson, a forward, on injured reserve (retroactive to Feb. 8) and recalled forward Sherwood from Cleveland of the American Hockey League. ... Vatanen did off-ice conditioning and the defenseman remains day to day.
Stat pack
Nyquist has 199 NHL assists. ... Merzlikins is 8-2-1 with a 1.28 GAA, .957 save percentage and five shutouts in his past 11 games (all starts). ... Severson has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past nine games.
