Preview: Blue Jackets seek home-and-home split with Devils

GAME 29: BLUE JACKETS (17-10-1) AT DEVILS (16-7-4)
PRUDENTIAL CENTER, 7 P.M., TUESDAY
TV: FOX SPORTS OHIO/FOX SPORTS GO
RADIO: 97.1 FM & BLUEJACKETS.COM
The second time around for the Blue Jackets and New Jersey Devils has almost the same storyline as the first, which the Devils won, 4-1, on Tuesday at Nationwide Arena.
The only difference is this time Columbus sits in second place of the Metropolitan Division, one point behind New Jersey. That was flipped around Tuesday, when the Devils went 6-for-6 killing penalties and scored twice in the second period of a 1-1 game to take the opener of the season series.
The loss did not sit well with the Blue Jackets, who are looking to atone after dropping their second straight game.
"Going back and watching my shifts, and watching the game as a whole, it's kind of embarrassing," defenseman Zach Werenski said Thursday. "That's the first time I actually felt embarrassed towards the end of a game in a while."
The Blue Jackets, who've lost their past two games, put 42 shots on goal against New Jersey but were kept to the outside of the ice. They're looking to change that Friday night, in order to make Devils goalie Cory Schneider work harder.
"We're at the top of the Metro going into that game, with [New Jersey] the team behind us, and we play like that," Werenski said. "It's just unacceptable. I would've expected a lot more from our team, from myself, from everybody, but the best part is ... we get to play them again [Friday]."

Speaking of the division, things have only gotten tighter.
Only three points separate first from sixth in the Metro, and four teams have 35 points following Thursday night's games: the Blue Jackets, New York Islanders, Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins. The Metro also holds both wild cards into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference, with the Capitals and Penguins currently occupying those spots.
It's still early in the regular season, but the division could be like this the rest of the way. Wins and points will be even greater in importance than usual, especially in head-to-head meetings between division opponents, like this one.
SERIES RECORD
2017-18 Season: (0-1-0). This is the second of four games. The Blue Jackets will face the Devils twice more, hosting New Jersey again Feb. 10 and playing Feb. 20 at Prudential Center.
All-time: 15-13-2 overall; 9-7-0 at Nationwide Arena
SERIES SNAPSHOT
First game: The Blue Jackets outshot the Devils 42-36, but didn't attack the high-danger areas enough. They also had some difficulty containing New Jersey's speed during counterattacks and breakouts, which led to New Jersey's last three goals.
The Devils also won the battle of top lines, as left wing Taylor Hall (one goal, one assist), rookie center Nico Hischier (two assists) and rookie right wing Jesper Bratt (one goal, one assist) each had two points. Schenider was solid in net, making 41 saves. Captain Nick Foligno scored the goal for Columbus.
WHO'S HOT
Devils:Hall has eight points (three goals, five assists) in the past six games, including his goal and assist against the Blue Jackets.
Blue Jackets: Rookie center Pierre-Luc Dubois has six points (one goal, five assists) in the past five games. Werenski has three points (two goals, one assist) in the past four games, and had a season-high 10 shots on goal Tuesday.
EYES ON: THE BLUE JACKETS
EYES ON: THE DEVILS
QUOTABLES
"I think we have played some good hockey, especially the past five or six games, other than the one we lost the other night [to New Jersey]. We are putting in some good numbers. We get our five-game reports, we are really on the upswing, but my problem is ... we're living off of some inexperienced kids really carrying the load here. Is it that [veteran] group that just thinks we're going to be able to turn it on? I hope not. I don't think so. I think they're smart enough, and I think they're respectful enough of this league, but if we go down that road, that is very dangerous." - Tortorella
"We just didn't play hard enough after the first 15 minutes of the game, when I thought we played really well, It was just their game. They ran away with it. They took over, and just did what they wanted to do. We had [42] shots, but none of them were net-front. [Schneider] saw everything. You're not going to win if the goalie, especially of that caliber, can see every shot. It hasn't been good lately." - Werenski on the first game against the Devils
PROJECTED LINEUPS
BLUE JACKETS
Forwards
Artemi Panarin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Josh Anderson
Nick Foligno - Alex Wennberg - Cam Atkinson
Matt Calvert - Brandon Dubinsky - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Boone Jenner - Lukas Sedlak - Tyler Motte
Defensemen
Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Jack Johnson - David Savard
Scott Harrington - Gabriel Carlsson
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Others:Markus Nutivaara (upper body), Markus Hannikainen
Injured reserve:Ryan Murray (upper body)
DEVILS
Forwards
Taylor Hall - Nico Hischier - Jesper Bratt
Marcus Johansson - Travis Zajac - Stefan Noesen
Brian Gibbons - Blake Coleman - Drew Stafford
Miles Wood - Brian Boyle - Pavel Zacha
Defensemen
Andy Greene - Sami Vatanen
John Moore - Damon Severson
Will Butcher - Ben Lovejoy
Goaltenders
Cory Schneider
Keith Kinkaid
Others:Dalton Prout, Steven Santini, Jimmy Hayes
Injured reserve: Kyle Palmieri (right foot fracture), Mirco Mueller (fractured clavicle)