On Monday night, the New Jersey Devils picked up two points at Nationwide Arena, defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2.
Timo Meier and Dawson Mercer (x2) scored for New Jersey, while Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov scored for Columbus.
It concluded the Devils' three-game road trip to open the 2025-26 season, earning a record of 2-1-0.
"This is a tough start to the season," head coach Sheldon Keefe told NJD.TV. "Three games in five nights, all on the road. Two home openers and three of the best home teams in the NHL, historically. To come home with four points is good. You always want six, but we will take the four and the lessons learned along the way."
Meier opened the scoring at 15:47 on the man advantage as Blue Jackets forward Adam Fantilli was called for hooking against Mercer. Keefe made adjustments to his first power play unit ahead of the game, adding Meier and defenseman Dougie Hamilton.
"You will see our power play change periodically as we play different opponents," Keefe told NJD.TV on Monday morning. "They play with different styles of penalty killing. This is one here today. The changes are more in response to the opponent than anything else. There are some different nuances of the penalty kill that fit the skillset of Dougie in particular that we want to be able to work."
Entering Monday's game, New Jersey's power play was 0-for-6.
Halfway through the second period, Marchenko picked the puck off Jack Hughes at the Blue Jackets' blue line and cashed in on a clean breakaway down the ice with his wrist shot beating Allen, tying the game.
Keefe's tweaks to his power play units continued to pay off as the second group contributed to New Jersey's second goal. Mercer received a beautiful pass from Arseny Gritsyuk for a 2-1 lead.
"I thought we broke the puck out much more efficiently," Keefe said of his power play units. "Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt were a lot smoother today coming through the neutral zone and on the entry than they have been in the previous games. That goes a long way. The more time we spend in the offensive zone, no matter who we have out there, we are going to make some things happen. That was good to see."
In addition to the power play, the penalty kill, led by Jonas Siegenthaler and Brenden Dillon, was a perfect 5-for-5.
"It is my job," Siegenthaler said to MSG Networks about the penalty kill. "I want to help the team as much as possible. I think tonight, the whole group was invested, and we did a great job."
Entering the third period, Jacob Markstrom took over in net for Jake Allen, who was unable to continue due to cramping. Allen looked spectacular in his season debut, making 23 saves on 24 shots for a .958 save percentage.
Markstrom made eight saves on nine shots to secure the Devils' second straight victory.
The Devils were without veteran winger Evgenii Dadonov, who is currently sidelined with a fracture in his hand. During his Devils debut in Tampa Bay, Zack MacEwen suffered an undisclosed injury and will be out for an extended period. Brian Halonen made his season debut on the fourth line with Paul Cotter and Luke Glendening on the fourth line.
The Devils' next game is scheduled for Thursday against the Florida Panthers at Prudential Center.
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