Blue Jackets Complete Collapse In Third Period Leads To Loss

Mason Marchment(8) and Charlie Coyle(6) scored the only goals for Columbus, while Jet Greaves made 30 saves in a 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday evening. 

The Blue Jackets were able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on Wednesday. They were absolutely dominating the Devils in every aspect of the game. From Corsi to Fenwick, to shots, and everything in between, this game had a Columbus victory written all over it. 

The Jackets outshot the Devils 35-33. They out-chanced them 38-18, and had 18 high danger scoring chances to the Devils' 3. Yes, that's right, 3. Yet somehow, the Devils were able to win this game. 

At 2:49 of the third period, the Devils scored a power-play goal, and that opened up the floodgates. Fifty-five seconds later, Jersey scored again, and then a minute later, they sunk the dagger into the CBJ, going up by one. The collapse was complete. 

With 15 minutes left in the game, you'd think that would be plenty of time to score at least one goal, right? Well, you'd be wrong. Not too much happened after that. 

Columbus did get a late power play chance with around 5 minutes to go, but they couldn't score, and that would be the end of any chance the Jackets would have of trying to push this game to overtime. 

That was a bad loss. 

To add insult to injury, forward Miles Wood was lost to a leg injury in this game. He would take an awkward fall, leave the game, and never return. HC Dean Evason said after the game, "Doesn't look good," when asked about his status. Evason made it seem like Wood was going to miss an extended period of time. Wood is the third Blue Jacket to be lost to a leg/knee injury in the last few days. Brendan Smith went down in the last game, and Isac Lundestrom was lost in the team's first practice back from the Christmas break. 

Wood was tripped by the Devils' Ondřej Palát. It looked like a nasty injury, and we can only hope he's ok. 

Mathieu Olivier said after the game, "It's pretty insane that we're standing here with a loss with that kind of game." 

Final Stats

Player Stats

• Mason Marchment scored his 8th goal. Marchment has now picked up points in each game played since making his team debut on Dec. 20 (4-2-6), becoming the first skater in franchise history to post a five-game points streak to start his CBJ career.
• Charlie Coyle scored his 6th goal.
• Kirill Marchenko picked up his 17th assist and had 5 shots. He now has a 5 game points streak.
• Dysin Mayo got his first assist of the season and was a plus-1. His assist was the first of his CBJ career.
• Boone Jenner recorded his 11th assist and had 4 shots. His assist was his 400th career point. He's the fourth player in franchise history to reach the milestone.
• Cole Sillinger had one assist, his 15th of the year. He now has a three game points streak.
• Jet Greaves made 30 saves.

Team Stats

• The Jackets' power play went 0/3.
• The Columbus PK allowed a goal on the Devils only power play try.
• Columbus won 50% of the faceoffs - 28/56
• The Blue Jackets had 26 hits.

Team Notes Per CBJ PR

• Columbus closed out the calendar year with a 41-33-9 record (91 points, .548) in 83 contests, posting the highest points percentage since 2020 (.617), and finished with a 22-13-5 record (49 points, .612) in 40 games played at Nationwide Arena in 2025.
• The Jackets also averaged 3.08 goals per game, the second-highest average over a calendar year in club history (3.16 in 2018).
• CBJ scored the first goal of the game for the 22nd time this season (13-5-4).  It also marked the fourth-straight game as well as the 12th time at Nationwide Arena (7-4-1)
• The visiting team has won all three games of the season series between Columbus and New Jersey following the Devils’ 3-2 victory.
• The Jackets played in their 23rd one-goal game this season.  The club entered the game tied with Vegas for the second-most one-goal games in the NHL, trailing only Los Angeles (24).

Up Next: The Blue Jackets are back home on to take on the scorching hot Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. 

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