Blue Jackets ease past Devils, end five-game skid

COLUMBUS -- The Columbus Blue Jackets ended a season-high five-game losing streak, scoring three goals in 3:09 of the second period and defeating the New Jersey Devils 6-1 at Nationwide Arena on Saturday.

WATCH: [All Devils vs. Blue Jackets highlights]
Columbus (28-23-4), which led 4-0 after two periods, is tied with the New York Islanders, one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Artemi Panarin and Oliver Bjorkstand each had a goal and an assist, Seth Jones and Boone Jenner each had two assists, and Pierre-Luc Dubois, Josh Anderson, Nick Foligno and Matt Calvert scored for the Blue Jackets.
Columbus had gone 15 games without scoring four goals, since a 5-4 loss at the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 29. It had scored more than two goals in regulation twice in that span.
"We've been doing a lot of good things of late," Jenner said. "To get rewarded on the offensive side is nice. We had a big number of shots. We were playing some good hockey. We just wanted to stick with it."

Sergei Bobrovsky's shutout ended with 3:34 remaining in the third period when Jenner knocked the puck into his own net, with Kyle Palmieri being credited with his 12th goal to make it 6-1. Taylor Hall earned an assist on Palmieri's goal to give him points in his past 13 games.
Bobrovsky made 34 saves and got an assist on Anderson's goal.
The Devils (27-19-8), who have lost three straight and seven of 10 (3-7-0), hold the first wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Keith Kinkaid made 44 saves on the Blue Jackets' season-high 50 shots.
"They're a hungry team," Devils forward Drew Stafford said. "They were a team that hadn't won in a while so we knew they would come out with a sense of urgency."
The Blue Jackets have 175 shots over the past four games, the most in a four-game span in their history.
"It's one of those nights the pucks go in," Columbus coach John Tortorella said. "The past four or five games we could have scored three or four goals if the pucks go in."
Dubois gave Columbus a 1-0 lead with 2:30 left in the first period. The rookie forward scored for the second straight game to give him 12 goals. Panarin, who had five primary assists against the Devils on Dec. 8, had another on the goal.

"We knew we had it in us," Dubois said. "Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't. A game like that helps the confidence."
Panarin made it 2-0 at 11:49 of the second, scoring on a backhand shot for his 15th goal. It was the first time since Dec. 29 that the Blue Jackets held a two-goal lead.
Anderson scored his Columbus-leading 17th goal at 13:09 on a 2-on-1, with a rising shot from the left circle to make it 3-0. Bjorkstrand's ninth of the season made it 4-0 at 14:58.
"They just kept coming," Kinkaid said. "They were relentless in winning battles."
Foligno made it 5-0 at 6:25 of the third, scoring on a rebound of Jones' shot for his 11th goal.
Foligno had a goal disallowed in the first period that would have made it 1-0. Referee Dave Jackson lost sight of the puck and stopped play before it went in.
"We were laughing," said Foligno, the Blue Jackets captain. "It almost takes another piece of adversity like that to get us going. I had a chuckle and said, 'Keep it going, boys, it's not going to break us.'"
Calvert made it 6-0 at 9:45 of the third on the power play.

Goal of the game

Anderson's goal at 13:09 of the second period.

Save of the game

Bobrovsky's save on John Quenneville at 10:55 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Panarin's goal at 11:49 of the second period.

They said it

"The better team won. The harder team, the more competitive team won. They deserved it, they earned it. We weren't even close." -- Devils coach John Hynes
"It's like a shark in the water. We had that mentality tonight. It was good to see." -- Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno

Need to know

Panarin has six points (three goals, three assists) in his past six games. He has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in seven career games against the Devils, including a goal and six assists in three games this season. … The Blue Jackets played their 13th of 17 back-to-backs; they are 6-6-1 in the second game.

What's next

Devils: Host the Boston Bruins on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+ 2, NESN, NHL.TV)
Blue Jackets: At the New York Islanders on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-O, NHL.TV)