Blackwood makes 52 saves in Devils' shootout win against Blue Jackets

NEWARK, N.J. -- Mackenzie Blackwood made an NHL career-high 52 saves and the New Jersey Devils won a seven-round shootout for a 4-3 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Prudential Center on Sunday.

Kyle Palmieri had a goal and an assist for the Devils (22-26-10), who traded defenseman Andy Greene to the New York Islanders before the game and forward Blake Coleman to the Tampa Bay Lightning shortly after opening face-off.
"We rode Blackwood]*
Kevin Stenlund, Andrew Peeke and Zach Werenski scored for the Blue Jackets (30-18-12), who are 0-2-3 in their past five games. Elvis Merzlikins made 23 saves.

"We'll take the point," Columbus coach John Tortorella said. "You always want two. I don't have an issue with the game other than we got a little caught up. We played their game a little bit in the second, we forced them into grinding and that's where we are going to have our success. It's frustrating in the overtime and the shootout ... we have chances to win and don't."
Stenlund scored from the slot to tie it 3-3 at 8:45 of the third period.
Joey Anderson pulled the Devils within 2-1 at 1:20 of the second, and Nick Merkley scored his first NHL goal off a rebound from the slot to tie it 2-2 at 3:51.

Palmieri scored from the high slot to give the Devils a 3-2 lead at 11:55 of the second period.
Peeke scored his first NHL goal off a rebound to give the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at 2:28 of the first period. Werenski controlled a long rebound at the top of the left face-off circle and scored off a slap shot to make it 2-0 at 6:19 of the first.
"We had 55 shots and I thought the scoring chances were in our favor," Peeke said. "Three breakdowns, three goals. It's unfortunate, but that happens."

Jesper Bratt scored in the seventh round of the shootout before Blackwood made a save against Sonny Milano on the final attempt.
"I owed the boys [after allowing two goals in the first period] so I just tried to keep doing what I always do," Blackwood said. "I take it one shot at a time, and today was a perfect example. When it was not going good for me at the start, I just tried to take it one stop at a time."
Greene, who was Devils captain, was traded to the Islanders for a second-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and defenseman prospect David Quenneville. Coleman was then traded to the Lightning for a first-round pick in 2020 or 2021 and forward prospect Nolan Foote.
New Jersey trails the Philadelphia Flyers by 17 points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"It's really kind of an emotional day for all of us," Blackwood said. "We lost two big parts to our team. Andy's been a leader in the room ever since I've been here. I've looked up to him and he's a piece in this room that I will miss.
"I played with Coleman my first year in Albany (of the American Hockey League) and watched him develop into the man he is today. But Andy is such a leader; that one hurt a little bit for me."

They said it

"The season is still long. We have 20- something games, so we still have time. We're just going to have lose overconfidence and believe what we have. We are not losing it. I believe and I know my teammates are going to fight and we are going to do beautiful things." -- Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins
"This team has no quit, no matter what the score is. We're going to keep playing, so as long as we kind of find a way to settle things down, we know we'll be alright and keep playing." -- Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood

Need to know

Blue Jackets forward Oliver Bjorkstrand has four points (two goals, two assists) in a four-game point streak and 17 points (12 goals, five assists) in his past 15 games. ... Werenski's 18th goal leads all NHL defensemen. ... Blue Jackets forward Gustav Nyquist earned his 200th NHL assist on Stenlund's goal. ... Hischier had one assist in 17:48 of ice time in his return after being out the previous six games with a lower-body injury. He has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past 11 games. ... Palmieri has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in his past 11 games.

What's next

Blue Jackets: At the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSP, FS-O, NHL.TV)
Devils: At the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-MW, MSG+, NHL.TV)