NJD-CBJPreview

DEVILS (11-14-7) at BLUE JACKETS (18-12-3)
7 p.m. ET; FS-O, MSG, NHL.TV

Panarin was a late scratch for the 1-0 win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday. His 34 points (nine goals, 25 assists) tie him for the Blue Jackets lead with Cam Atkinson (19 goals, 15 assists).
The Blue Jackets are 2-0-1 in their past three games and will look to end a six-game homestand (2-2-1) with a winning record.
Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, 22, makes his first NHL start. The 42nd pick in the 2015 NHL Draft stopped eight of 10 shots in the third period of a 7-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday in his NHL debut.

Players to watch

Devils forward Taylor Hall has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in his past eight games. His next goal will be his 200th in the NHL.
Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is 2-0-1 with a 0.99 goals-against average, a .963 save percentage and a shutout in his past three games.

They said it

"We felt this would be a good game to get him into. We have to get him in. You have to go through this stretch with two goalies." -- Devils coach John Hynes on the NHL debut of goalie Mackenzie Blackwood
"We've got to start hitting the net more, at least create rebounds, if not finding ways to put them through the back of the net. It would make life easier for us, especially the way we've been playing defensively." -- Forward Brandon Dubinsky on the Blue Jackets scoring two or fewer goals in four of the past five games

Devils projected lineup

Marcus Johansson -- Nico Hischier -- Kyle Palmieri
Taylor Hall -- Travis Zajac -- Blake Coleman
Miles Wood -- Pavel Zacha -- John Quenneville
Brian Boyle -- Brett Seney -- Jesper Bratt
Damon Severson -- Sami Vatanen
Will Butcher -- Ben Lovejoy
Andy Greene -- Steven Santini
Mackenzie Blackwood
Keith Kinkaid`
Scratched: Drew Stafford, Mirco Mueller, Egor Yakovlev
Injured: Cory Schneider (abdominal strain), Joey Anderson (broken ankle), Stefan Noesen

Blue Jackets projected lineup
Status report

Santini plays his first game since Oct. 20 vs. Philadelphia Flyers when he broke his jaw. … With Panarin's return, Sedlak sits.

Stat pack

Palmieri has seven points (five goals, two assists) in his past six games. … The Blue Jackets have 12 straight penalty kills in their past six games.