Game Preview: Devils Hope to Right Ship vs. Blue Jackets

The New Jersey Devils are doing some soul-searching.

On Thanksgiving morning, the team took part in some extensive conversations about their game over their 1-5-0 stretch in the last six games. They’ll host the sputtering Columbus Blue Jackets who have lost nine of their last 10 games.

The Devils will likely continue to be without captain Nico Hischier as continues to make progress skating with the team. Timo Meier remains off the ice recovering from a lower-body injury.

After some tough internal conversations, let’s dive into the Devils’ tilt against the Blue Jackets in today’s Black Friday Matinée.

Time: 3:00 PM      Watch/Stream: MSGSN/MSG+      Listen: DEVILS HOCKEY NET

Projected Devils Lineup

Erik Haula – Jack Hughes – Curtis Lazar

Tyler Toffoli – Michael McLeod – Jesper Bratt

Ondrej Palat – Dawson Mercer – Alexander Holtz

Max Willman – Chris Tierney – Nathan Bastian

Jonas Siegenthaler – Dougie Hamilton

Kevin Bahl – John Marino

Colin Miller – Luke Hughes

Akira Schmid

Vitek Vanecek

Projected Blue Jackets Lines

Johnny Gaudreau – Boone Jenner – Kirill Marchenko

Dmitri Voronkov – Adam Fantilli – Patrik Laine

Yegor Chinakhov – Cole Sillinger – Mathieu Olivier

Eric Robinson – Sean Kuraly – Justin Danforth

Zack Werenski – Adam Boqvist

Ivn Provorov – David Jiricek

Jake Bean – Erik Gudbranson

Elvis Merzlikins

Spencer Martin

Last Game

The Devils were shut out for the first time since April 24th, 2o22 in their last contest against the Detroit Red Wings. Three quick goals in the first period by Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin, and Robby Fabbri were enough to completely unravel the Devils for the following two and a half periods. Moritz Seider later added a power-play goal to help secure the Red Wings’ 4-0 victory. Vitek Vanecek made 24 saves while Alex Lyon pitched a 16-dave shutout.

Player to Watch

Heading into his third game post-injury, Jack Hughes knows the Devils can be better. He’s this afternoon’s player to watch as Hughes is over a point-per-game player in his career against the Blue Jackets. In eight tilt’s with Columbus, Hughes has recorded four goals and six assists. With the Devils in desperate need of a jump start amidst a slump, they’ll turn to their franchise forward to try and get them back on track in a matchup against a dismal Columbus team.

Devils vs. Blue Jackets

According to the Devils PR, “The Devils and Columbus face-off for the first of four matchups this season.

Remaining matchups:

Dec. 16, at CBJ, 7:00 P.M. E.T.
Dec. 27, vs CBJ, 7:00 P.M. E.T.
Jan. 19, at CBJ, 7:00 P.M. E.T.

ALL-TIME vs CBJ

Record: 19-22-1-5
Home: 11-8-1-3
Road: 8-14-0-2

The Most/Last Time…

The most goals in franchise history earned in a single game vs Columbus is eight, which was earned on Apr. 6, 2023, after an 8-1 win at the Rock.

The most goals that the Devils allowed in a single game vs Columbus is six, three times, last logged on Feb. 10, 2018, after a 6-1 loss at CJ.

The most shots that Jersey earned in a single game vs Columbus is 53, which was logged on Oct. 30, 2022, in a 7-1 victory.

The most shots that the Devils surrendered against Columbus in a single game was 55, which was logged in a 4-3 shootout win on Feb. 16, 2020.

The last time the Devils shut out Columbus was on Feb. 28, 2015, in a 2-0 win at Columbus (C. Schneider, 33 saves).

The last time Columbus shut out the Devils was on Jan. 18, 2020, in a 5-0 loss at Columbus (E. Merzlikins, 41 saves).”

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Sat. Nov. 25, vs BUF, 7:00 P.M. E.T
Tue., Nov. 28, vs NYI, 7:00 P.M. E.T.
Thu. Nov. 30, at PHI, 7:00 P.M. E.T.
Fri. Dec. 1, vs SJS, 7:00 P.M. E.T.
Tue. Dec. 5, at VAN, 10:00 P.M. E.T.

For more Devils news, visit New Jersey Hockey Now and like our Facebook page.

Follow us on 𝕏:

@NJDHockeyNow, @JamesNicholsNHL

And on Threads:

@JamesNicholsNHL