Following a frustrating 7-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, ending their three-game win streak, the Devils rebounded with a focused effort, securing a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Monday, March 17th, extending the Blue Jackets’ losing streak to four games. In a masterful display of goaltending, Jake Allen’s 45 saves proved to be the difference-maker for the Devils. Timo Meier, who scored in back-to-back games, and Jesper Bratt, who hit the 80-point mark, found the back of the net for New Jersey. For Columbus, Mathieu Olivier ended Allen’s shutout. The Devils head home to the Prudential Center to host the Calgary Flames on Thursday, while the Blue Jackets take on the Florida Panthers next in hopes of snapping their four-game losing streak.
New Jersey Devils Lineup:
Meier – Hischier – Noesen
Palat – Mercer – Tatar
Haula – Glass – Bratt
Cotter – Lazar – Bastian
Hughes – Pesce
Dumoulin – Kovacevic
Dillon – Nemec
Allen
Markstrom
Columbus Blue Jackets Lineup:
Chinakov – Voronkov – Marchenko
Jenner – Fantilli – Johnson
Aston-Reese – Danforth – Olivier
van Riemsdyk – Kuraly – Kunin
Werenski – Fabbro
Mateychuk – Provorov
Johnson – Severson
Greaves
Tarasov
After a scoreless opening period, Timo Meier put the Devils ahead 1-0 late into the second at 6:25 when he put a backhander five-hole on Jet Greaves for his 20th goal of the season off a quick pass by Stefan Noesen, who received a pass from Nico Hischier after driving up toward the Devils’ zone, and Meier drove into Columbus’ zone, carrying the puck and bursting past Dante Fabbro through the left circle. Jesper Bratt struck only 39 seconds later to extend it to 2-0 for his 80th point of the season, firing the puck home before Greaves was able to get back into position after misplaying the puck behind the net for it to slide out to Bratt.
Mathieu Olivier ended Jake Allen’s shutout, putting the Blue Jackets on the board late into the final frame with 6:36 remaining in regulation. He scored off a pass from Justin Danforth in the low slot after Zachary Aston-Reese drove up along the right boards, carrying the puck after he took a pass from Olivier before sending it over to Danforth for the 2-1 final.
Jake Allen on the importance of this win after the loss in Pittsburgh, the third period, and the game overall: “It was huge, especially against a divisional team again. A team that’s chasing us. We found a way to get it done. …We won. So, that’s all that matters. Obviously, we don’t want to be under that much duress. They were a desperate team and they threw everything they could at the net. We would have been doing the same thing if we were in that situation as well… It wasn’t pretty, but we found a way to get it done, and that’s all that matters right now,” – “It was a gutsy win… Honestly, they played hard. Columbus, every time we’ve played them, it’s a tough game, especially in their building. I thought for the most part for those two periods, it was a pretty solid effort. Obviously, the two late goals in the second were huge for us, and we grinded it.”
Game Notes:
– With his goal, Jesper Bratt has become the third player in franchise history to record consecutive 80-point seasons. He joins Zach Parise (2 from 2008-9, 2009-10) and Wilf Paiement (2 from 1976-77, 1977-78). …This is also his fourth straight 20-goal season, and he has 80 points in 69 games (20 goals, 60 assists).
– Bratt (three goals, seven assists), Timo Meier (three goals, one assist), and Nico Hischier (two goals, two assists) all have extended their point streaks to four games.
– Meier has tied both Kevin Fiala and Nino Niederreiter (both with seven) for the most 20-goal seasons by a Swiss-born player in NHL history.
– The Devils have won four of five. …They are six points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for second place in the Metropolitan Division.
– NJ: 37-26-6, CBUS: 31-28-8
– Jet Greaves made a total of 18 saves for Columbus.
– The Columbus Blue Jackets have lost four in a row and six of seven.
– The Blue Jackets remain two points behind the New York Rangers for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
– Mathieu Olivier scored the last goal for Columbus before their scoreless streak against the Devils on March 11.
ITR 39: Conference Finals – Inside The Rink
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