The Jackets are in Newark to take on the Devils
The New Jersey Devils welcome the Blue Jackets into Prudential Center today at 3 p.m. The Devils come into this game, losers of their last two games. Against the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins, they lost 5-3 and 4-0 respectively. They've also gone 4-6 in the last 10, so the Jackets could be catching the Devils at the right time. On Wednesday the CBJ destroyed the Blackhawks at home and hope to carry over that confidence today.
Three Keys
- Don't take penalties. The Devils power-play currently sits 1st in the league at 37.7%. Although the CBJ are 3rd in the NHL on the PK, they'd be wise not to give the Devils an extra man to play with.
- Replicate the Blackhawks game. Not every game will end up 7-3, but if they can play the way they did against Chicago, they'll have a good chance to win. New Jersey is vulnerable right now, but make no mistake, if the CBJ don't watch themselves, they could be in for a long night.
- Play the law of averages game. The Devils rank 25th in goals against and give up 30 shots a game. The Jackets take 30 shots on average and rank 16th in goals scored. The Devils goalies rank 41st and 43rd in GAA, so if the CBJ can be average and put their shots on goal, they will have a chance to beat the NJ goalies.
Series History
- The Jackets own an all-time record of 27-17-3 against Jersey, including going 11-9-3 on the road.
- Columbus won 15 of 18 games between 2017 and 2022 before the Devils won all three games last season.
- The CBJ are 10-4-1 in the last 15 games in New Jersey.
Who to watch for New Jersey
- Jack Hughes has 22 points in 12 games. This after missing a handful of games due to injury.
- Jesper Bratt has 8 goals and 23 points on the season. Bratt has a staggering 16 power-play points on the season.
- Vitek Vanecek is 7-5 with a GAA of 3.43 and a save % of .886. His backup is Akira Schmid. Schmid's record is 1-3-1 with a GAA of 3.46 and a save % of .885. Vanecek played against the Red Wings on Wednesday and lost 4-0.
Player Notes
- Johnny Gaudreau has 23 points in 16 games against the Devils. The NJ fans will boo him mercilessly all night.
- Boone Jenner has 18 points in 32 games. Jenner leads the team in goals with 10.
- Zach Werenski has 7 points in his last 5 games.
- Rookie Adam Fantilli leads all NHL rookies with 57 shots on goal. Connor Bedard sits 9 shots behind Fantilli.
- Eric Robinson played 14:44 against Chicago in his first game back from Cleveland.
How to Watch & Listen: Tonight's game will be on Bally Sports Ohio. As always, the legendary Jeff Rimer will be on the play-by-play. The radio broadcast will be on 105.7 FM with Bob McElligott behind the mic doing the play-by-play.
Join Jason Newland's Columbus Blue Jacket page on Bunches, a new app that connects sports fans. Also, you can watch a new YouTube game show about the Blue Jackets, Around the Fifth Line.