New Jersey Devils overwhelm Columbus Blue Jackets in second period: 5 takeaways
The New Jersey Devils’ offensive barrage in the second period was too much for the Blue Jackets on Friday night.
Playing their final home tilt until Feb. 10, the Jackets had a 1-0 lead after the first period slip away when the Devils scored four times in the second on their way to a 4-1 victory in front of 18,630 at sold-out Nationwide Arena.
"You don’t win your 1-on-1 battles, you don’t win hockey games at any level," Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. "Their transition game was really good. They’re number one in the league. We had to take care of that, but the game within the game is the small details and winning those 1-on-1 battles. In the second, that’s what we didn’t do.”
Yegor Chinakhov's slick reverse no-look pass through his legs to Cole Sillinger led to the Blue Jackets netting the game's first goal just 4:21 into the game, but the Devils (23-17-3) had the early shot advantage through the first period. They outshot the Blue Jackets (14-22-9) by a 10-5 margin, but goalie Elvis Merzlikins (29 saves) kept New Jersey from scoring.
That changed almost immediately in the second period, when the Devils defenseman John Marino tied it 1-1 just 28 seconds after the opening draw ― the first of four goals in that frame to help New Jersey snap a two-game skid.
"They make their push (in the second), but I think we focus on us, and obviously that’s not the way we wanted to play," Sillinger said. "I thought we were too sporadic, right? We were good first shift and then took some shifts off. They really found some sustained pressure and sustained energy, and it’s unacceptable."
Vitek Vanecek started net for the Devils and made 28 saves for the goaltending win. Marino was joined by fellow goal-scorers Alexander Holtz, Nico Hischier and Nathan Bastian.
Next up for the Blue Jackets is a five-game road trip that starts Tuesday in Edmonton. Here are five takeaways from the loss to New Jersey:
Blue Jackets struggle to capitalize in Boone Jenner return
The Blue Jackets had their captain back after Jenner missed 15 games with a fractured jaw.
A day after eating his first real meal in five-plus weeks, a plate of pasta, Jenner spent much of the game getting back up to speed. The night didn't go how he wanted, but simply returning to action will suffice.
"It’s good to get back," Jenner said. "I thought I was a bit rusty. I wanted to bring a little bit more, just personally, in my game. So, I can build on it. It’s nice to be back out there.”
With the goal of trying to "keep it simple," Jenner spent the night centering a line with rookie Adam Fantilli and Jack Roslovic as wingers. Putting them together, Vincent tried to give the Blue Jackets versatility with each adding experience at playing center.
It didn't work out, but Vincent used them most at 5-on-5 while trying to let Jenner shake off the rust. They skated 11:51 at 5-on-5 despite struggling to win enough battles to prevent the Devils piling up shots and scoring chances against them.
Vincent expected Jenner to be playing catchup after such a long down period. The other two struggling was more disappointing, particularly Roslovic. He's scuffled with two points (two assists) in nine games since returning from a fractured ankle, finishing with just one shot in 14:02 against the Devils.
"Jack has a better game than this," Vincent said. "I think he’d be the first one to tell you."
Jenner remains second on the team with 13 goals, and finished with one shot and two attempts. He also logged a hit, two blocked shots and struggled on draws by winning just 5 of 14 (36%). All of those numbers will improve significantly when the Jackets' captain returns to form.
"You’re excited to be back, no doubt," he said. "We want to keep it simple and not think too much, try to get in the groove. It’s the timing and the speed of the game that’s a little bit up from practices and skates. So, it's just trying to get that back."
Losing Spencer Martin to Carolina Hurricanes challenges Columbus Blue Jackets’ goaltending depth
The Blue Jackets couldn’t sneak goalie Spencer Martin through waivers and assign him to AHL Cleveland, where he would’ve been a quality stash.
Martin was snapped up by the Carolina Hurricanes via waivers Friday, going to a Metropolitan Division rival and leaving the Blue Jackets with Elvis Merzlikins and Daniil Tarasov as their NHL tandem. Jet Greaves remains in the AHL with the Cleveland Monsters as potential a third NHL option.
The Jackets had carried three NHL goalies since mid-December, after Tarasov returned from a knee injury, but a looming five-game trip that starts Tuesday in Edmonton may have prompted the decision to risk losing Martin. Keeping three goalies isn’t ideal, regardless of the schedule, but it becomes a bigger drawback during long road trips ― which the Jackets haven’t had yet.
Teams prefer carrying extra skaters as safeguards for injuries rather than excess goalies. Jenner’s return also played into it, forcing the Blue Jackets to create a roster spot, and now Martin is a Hurricane.
Carolina’s decision to claim him wasn’t a surprise either.
The NHL has a handful of teams currently hard up for goaltending options thanks to injuries, slumps and salary-cap issues, and the Hurricanes were among that growing field. Martin’s departure now presents an interesting scenario for the Blue Jackets, who are back to using Merzlikins as their No. 1 option while Tarasov handles the backup role.
Tarasov, who’s injury prone, is working with goaltending coach Niklas Backstrom to improve his sharpness after struggling in three straight games to end what Vincent described as a two-week “evaluation” stretch. That span angered Merzlikins to the point he’s requested a trade, but his trade value appears to be low thanks in large part to his $5.4 million annual cap charge and three years left on his contract.
That could change with an extended hot streak, but without Martin around now, the Blue Jackets would almost certainly require a goalie to be included in the return package.
Columbus Blue Jackets overwhelmed by New Jersey Devils in another second period letdown
The numbers alone are astounding.
After being outscored 4-0 by the Devils in the second period Friday, the Blue Jackets have now been outscored in second periods by a combined 74-37 margin this season. They've also been outshot 524-434 in second periods, in which the "long change," continues to give them fits while getting pinned inside their own zone due to failures in 1-on-1 puck battles.
This time, the Devils only needed 28 seconds to tie it 1-1 and 8:40 to take a 2-1 lead on Holtz's goal. That one was a backdoor tap-in after a nice feed from Cal Foote that caught the Blue Jackets sleeping in their own zone. Hischier and Bastian then added goals less than a minute apart to blow it open at 4-1 going into the third.
"We’re up 1-0 and we’ve got a lead, and we know we’ve got better (in us), but we went the other way and let them back in the game just with our mistakes — and not just our mistakes but our battle and compete level," Jenner said. "It went down a little bit, they ramped it up and they were able to score four. That’s what happens in this league. You lose those 1-on-1 battles, they’re going to have the puck more and they’re going to have more chances, and that’s what hurt us.”
Columbus Blue Jackets' rookie defenseman David Jiricek working on ‘gap control’
After being assigned to the AHL Thursday, rookie David Jiricek played for the Cleveland Monsters on Friday night in the first of back-to-back games at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. He’ll meet the Blue Jackets on Sunday in Columbus prior to their flight to Edmonton.
Assigning Jiricek to Cleveland had two primary reasons behind it. He needed to play after watching the Blue Jackets’ previous two games as a healthy scratch, and the talented rookie was sent north up I-71 with a specific defensive task.
“In order to be a good offensive team and be a tight defensive team, the (defensive) gap for our (defensemen) is one of our priorities,” Vincent said. “That’s something he needs to work on. ... so, the plan for him is we’re going to focus on keeping his confidence as high as it possibly can be, but working on one thing — and it’s going to be his gap control. That’s the plan for him.”
Gap control is about defensemen taking away time and space from oncoming opponents with positioning and backward skating. It typically begins in the neutral zone, close to the opposing blue line. Having the AHL affiliate two hours away is advantageous for the Blue Jackets in this kind of situation.
“He’s going there, and I told him, 'Just work on that,’” Vincent said. “Everything else will fall in place, because by doing that you’re defending. It’s the byproduct. And that’s the one thing he needs to improve. He’s aware of aware of it, he’s receptive and that’s going to be the plan with him.”
Loss to New Jersey Devils adds to Columbus Blue Jackets’ woes against Metropolitan Division
The Devils’ third victory over the Blue Jackets didn’t just give New Jersey the win in the four game season series.
It also compounded the Blue Jackets’ misery against the Metropolitan Division. They're just 3-10-3 against teams from their own division, despite sticking near .500 against every other division.
Columbus is 6-7-3 against the Atlantic, 3-4-1 against the Central and 2-1-2 against the Pacific. They’re 5-5-3 against the Western Conference and just 9-16-6 against the Eastern Conference, lagging seven games under .500 thanks to their struggles in the Metro.
That’s something they need to correct before the end of this season, and it's no easy task.
"You need these division games," Jenner said. "I mean, we play these guys four times, other teams three times. It’s the most you see teams during the year. You need those points, and as far as what the record is against other teams or our division teams, it doesn’t matter. Our record's what it is, at the end of the day, and it shouldn’t matter who we’re playing."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: New Jersey Devils smoke Columbus Blue Jackets: 5 takeaways
