Preview: Blue Jackets looking to end winless skid in New Jersey

GAME 60: BLUE JACKETS (29-25-5) AT DEVILS (31-20-8)
Location:Prudential Center, 7 P.M., Tuesday
TV:Fox Sports Ohio/Fox Sports Go; MSG+
Radio:CD102.5 FM & BlueJackets.com
It's no longer about salvaging things like special-teams numbers or helping individual players recover from down seasons.
The Blue Jackets have just 23 games left, are currently outside the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference and need to start stacking wins and points each time they play. They're 2-6-1 in the past nine games, a stretch in which they've outshot every opponent by a wide margin, and they're winless in their past three games.
Regardless, Columbus has 63 points in 59 games and is just one point out of the East's second wild card, which is currently occupied by the Carolina Hurricanes - who have 64 points in 60 games.
"We're very fortunate," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said Monday, a day after Columbus lost 5-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins at Nationwide Arena. "From where the [Metropolitan Division] was three months ago, I mean, everybody's come down to earth, including us, and we're still right in the middle of it. We're very fortunate. So, you look at it and say, 'We're still here.'"

The New Jersey Devils, who finished dead last in the Metro and NHL standings last season, are there too. In fact, they've gone 4-1-0 since the Blue Jackets handed them a 6-1 loss Feb. 10 in Columbus, including wins in their past four games.
The Devils have 70 points in 59 games and a secure hold on the first wild-card spot. They're also tied in points and games with the Philadelphia Flyers, who are third in the Metro only through the NHL's standings tie-breaker rules.
Unless the Blue Jackets, Hurricanes or New York Islanders (64 points in 61 games) rips off an extended winning streak, it looks like a battle to the end between those three teams for the East's final playoff spot. Tortorella would like his team to focus on that and kick its play into a higher gear down the stretch.
"Who cares about the numbers at the end of the year?" he said. "Let's worry about our numbers here, with these 23 games left. Let's concentrate on that bubble, because we're right there. I don't want to overthink it and hammer them with numbers, and 'Are we creating enough? Are we giving up too much?' I just want to get them ready to play each and every day and try to find a way to win."
The Blue Jackets, who've lost two young defensemen plus captain Nick Foligno in two games this past weekend, have battled inconsistency most of the season. They also had to stay afloat in January through a host of other injuries.
As a result, Columbus is 11-15-4 since Dec. 9, and its 26 points in that stretch is tied for 25th in the league with three other teams.
The good news for the Blue Jackets, who will get defenseman Ryan Murray back after an extended injury absence, is they've outshot their past eight opponents by an average of 44-27. The bad news is they've won just two of those games and haven't scored a proportional amount of goals per game.
"When things [are] going well, we just haven't been consistent with all the things you need to do to win hockey games," Tortorella said. "One night it's our power play. One night it's our penalty killing. Maybe it's our goaltending. It's been like that for a number of months for our team, but you're not going to get me to say that we haven't played good hockey here the last six or seven games, other than that [game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday], where I thought we were flat. We just haven't won. We've got to find a way to win."
SERIES RECORD
2017-18 Season: (2-1-0). This is the finale of the four-game season series. The Blue Jackets, who are 11-3-0 in their past 14 games against New Jersey, are looking to take the series with a win or overtime/shootout loss.
All-time (W-L-T-O): 17-13-1-1 overall; 7-6-1-1 in Columbus
WHO'S HOT
Blue Jackets: Cam Atkinson has points in the past two games and has eight points (four goals, four assists) since Jan. 25 against the Arizona Coyotes, when he scored the game-winning goal in his return from a fractured bone in his right foot.
Devils: Rookie center Nico Hischier has a four-game goal streak and points in five straight games. Hischier has nine points (four goals, five assists) during the point streak.
EYES ON: THE BLUE JACKETS
EYES ON: THE DEVILS
PROJECTED LINEUPS
DEVILS
Forward lines
Taylor Hall - Nico Hischier - Kyle Palmieri
Blake Coleman - Travis Zajac - Stefan Noesen
Jesper Bratt - Pavel Zacha - Drew Stafford
Blake Pietila - Brian Boyle - Nick Lappin
Defense pairings
Andy Greene - Sami Vatanen
John Moore - Damon Severson
Will Butcher - Ben Lovejoy
Goaltenders
Keith Kinkaid
Eddie Lack
Others: Mirco Mueller, Jimmy Hayes
Injured reserve:Marcus Johansson (concussion), Brian Gibbons (broken right thumb), John Quenneville (right knee), Cory Schneider (groin/hip)
Suspended: Miles Wood
BLUE JACKETS
Forwards
Artemi Panarin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Cam Atkinson
Boone Jenner - Alex Wennberg - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Matt Calvert - Brandon Dubinsky - Josh Anderson
Markus Hannikainen - Lukas Sedlak - Zac Dalpe
Defensemen
Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Jack Johnson - Ryan Murray
Scott Harrington - David Savard
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Others: Markus Nutivaara (upper body), Jussi Jokinen
Injured reserve: Nick Foligno (lower body), Dean Kukan (upper body)