On Wednesday, Dec. 31, the New Jersey Devils will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Devils lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-0, on Tuesday night. Even with Auston Matthews and William Nylander out of the lineup, the Devils couldn’t score one goal.
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The Blue Jackets, on the other hand, are currently on a three-game win streak. They’ve won their last two games, which were also on a back-to-back. They beat the New York Islanders, 4-2, on Sunday and the Ottawa Senators in Ottawa, 4-1, on Monday. They’ll look to continue their hot streak when they return home.
This is the third meeting between these teams this season, each taking home a win after the Devils won on Oct. 13 and the Blue Jackets won on Dec. 1. The game in New Jersey earlier this month got a little feisty, so there’s a good chance tensions will run high tonight.
Devils Storylines
Since Jacob Markstrom got the start against the Maple Leafs last night, Jake Allen will likely be the Devils’ netminder tonight. He was also in the net for the team’s previous two games against the Blue Jackets, helping them win the first matchup 3-2, but falling to Columbus 5-3 the second time around.
This is the Devils’ third set of back-to-backs this month. Unfortunately, the second half of the other two back-to-backs resulted in losses for the Devils, first a 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Dec. 6 in Boston and then a 2-1 loss when they hosted the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 14.
The player to watch in this game is Nico Hischier. He scored a goal and recorded an assist against the Blue Jackets on Dec. 1.
Team Stats
New Jersey Devils
Season Record: 20-17-2
Top Scorers:
- Jesper Bratt – 8 goals (G), 23 assists (A), 31 points (P)
- Nico Hischier – 10 G, 20 A, 30 P
- Dawson Mercer – 10 G, 14 A, 24 P
- Timo Meier – 11 G, 12 A, 23 P
- Jack Hughes – 11 G, 10 A, 21 P
Goalie Stats:
- Jake Allen – 10-8-1, 2.54 goals-against average (GAA), .910 save percentage (SV%)
- Jacob Markstrom – 9-9-1, 3.32 GAA, .884 SV%
- Nico Daws – 1-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .968 SV%
Columbus Blue Jackets
Season Record: 17-15-6
Top Scorers:
- Zach Werenski – 14 G, 26 A, 40 P
- Kirill Marchenko – 14 G, 16 A, 30 P
- Dimitri Voronkov – 13 G, 12 A, 25 P
- Adam Fantilli – 12 G, 13 A, 25 P
- Charlie Coyle – 5 G, 19 A, 24 P
Goalie Stats:
- Jet Greaves – 11-9-5, 2.60 GAA, .909 SV%
- Elvis Merzlikins – 6-6-1, 4.04 GAA, .877 SV%
Projected Lineups
(Subject to change before puck drop)
As per The Hockey Writers’ projected lineup article.
New Jersey Devils
Timo Meier — Nico Hischier — Dawson Mercer
Ondrej Palat — Jack Hughes — Jesper Bratt
Arseni Gritsyuk — Cody Glass — Connor Brown
Paul Cotter — Luke Glendening — Stefan Noesen
Jonas Siegenthaler — Dougie Hamilton
Luke Hughes — Brett Pesce
Brenden Dillon — Colton White
Jacob Markstrom
Jake Allen
Scratched: Juho Lammikko, Dennis Cholowski
Injured: Evgenii Dadonov, Zack MacEwen, Marc McLaughlin, Simon Nemec, Johnathan Kovacevic
Columbus Blue Jackets
Mason Marchment — Adam Fantilli — Kirill Marchenko
Miles Wood — Cole Sillinger — Dmitri Voronkov
Boone Jenner — Charlie Coyle — Mathieu Olivier
Zachary Aston-Reese — Brendan Gaunce — Kent Johnson
Ivan Provorov — Dante Fabbro
Denton Mateychuk — Damon Severson
Jake Christiansen — Dysin Mayo
Jet Greaves
Elvis Merzlikins
Scratched:
Injured: Sean Monahan, Brendan Smith, Isac Lundestrom, Luca Marrelli, Zach Werenski, Erik Gudbranson
Next Up for the Devils
The Devils will return home to host the Utah Mammoth in their next game on Jan. 3. The season series against the Blue Jackets will conclude on Feb. 3 in New Jersey.
