Another Game, Another Goalie Stands On Their Head; New Jersey Devils Lose 4-2 To Columbus Blue Jackets

New Jersey mounted a late surge, but Elvis Merzlikins was the story as he stole a game from the Devils

Tonight was a Murphy’s Law kind of game.

In a wildly frustrating contest, the New Jersey Devils lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2 on Thursday night. If the final score of tonight’s game actually reflected how well each team played, the Devils would’ve won something like 5-1 or 6-1. Watching these 60 minutes of hockey was maddening.

The story of the game was clearly Elvis Merzlikins, who played the luckiest game of his life. Yes I am fully aware of how bitter that must make me sound, but I really believe that. To his credit, Merzlikins did make a handful of strong saves, turning Devil after Devil aside until very late into the contest. But he also got some ludicrous puck luck to help him put together his amazing performance. The Devils hit two crossbars. Erik Haula had a wide open net off a juicy rebound, and the puck just hopped over his stick. Jack Hughes had a moderately open net off a killer cross-slot pass from his brother, and he shot it directly into Merzlikins’ glove like he was aiming for it. Luke Hughes had a wide open net off another juicy rebound early in the third, and while Merzlikins did have to stretch to make the save, Hughes did him a solid by shooting mostly right back into Merzlikins instead of at the yawning cage. At one point in the third, Hughes took a shot that Merzlikins didn’t even see and it hit him for a save anyway.

Merzlikins played well, but make no mistake: luck was a huge factor in his final numbers this evening. New Jersey was able to crack him for two late goals from Luke Hughes and Timo Meier, but by then it was too little, too late. Between Scott Wedgewood, Anthony Stolarz, and now Merzlikins, New Jersey has been on the receiving end of some bewilderingly strong goalie performances lately.

Meanwhile, as nothing was going right for the Devils on offense, nothing was going right for them on defense either. In a game where New Jersey absolutely subsumed Columbus in puck possession (the final shot total was 42-20, while Natural Stat Trick had the Devils at a shade under 70% 5-on-5 Expected Goals For%), the very few mistakes the Devils did make wound up in the back of their net. A loose puck in front of Allen that somehow two Devils in the immediate area were not able to clear? Ivan Provorov swooped in and slammed it home for the opening goal. Dawson Mercer not being able to get a full-ice clear during a penalty kill? Columbus regained the zone and Zach Werenski went post and in for the second goal. Dougie Hamilton coughing up a brutal turnover in the defensive zone? About five seconds later the puck was in the Devils’ net because Sean Monahan was able to flip home a deflected pass in front. New Jersey finally solving Merzlikins not once, but twice, in the final minutes, and with about 80 seconds to play they pull Jake Allen as Jack Hughes is carrying the puck over his own blue line? Hughes lost the puck right to Monahan, who whipped it into the empty net to ice the game.

By the way, that power play goal Columbus scored happened because Timo Meier was called for goaltender interference. Meier deployed a power move to get to the front of the net on a rush, and ran over Merzlikins with help from the Blue Jackets defenseman who was marking Meier. Which leads me to the frustrating fact that the Devils had to play by today’s rules while the Blue Jackets were for some reason able to play by the Dead Puck era clutch and grab rules. That Meier goaltender interference call? A Blue Jacket did roughly the same thing to Allen later, but no call was made. Stefan Noesen was blatantly held while in the offensive zone in the first period, no call. Ondrej Palat was crosschecked down to the ice with the puck nowhere near him, no call. Luke Hughes was hooked for, as Bill Spaulding put it, about 4-5 strides on an offensive zone possession in the third period, no call. The only penalty Columbus was called for was the automatic puck over glass Delay of Game. Meanwhile Tomas Tatar was called for a ticky tack hook in the second period, which would have been acceptable if not for the fact that the officials let Columbus get away with far worse. I don’t like complaining about officiating, but tonight there was a very noticeable imbalance in how the game was called. It did not cost the Devils the game by itself, but it certainly didn’t help matters.

Strong goaltending from the opposing team, as well as some insane puck luck. Every mistake winding up in the back of your own net. Uneven officiating. Add it all up and you have the perfect storm for a Murphy’s Law loss. The Devils were the far superior team this evening, but sometimes in hockey the far superior team doesn’t get to win. New Jersey has had (and will have) games where they were outplayed but got the win thanks to pure serendipity this season, it happens. Tonight was one of those nights for the opponent. Take solace in the fact that you played well and move on. It’s all the Devils can do.

The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The Natural Stat Trick Game Stats

The Game Highlights: Courtesy of the NHL’s website

Shooting Gallery

Jack Hughes finished tonight’s game with an outrageous 13 shots on goal*. It was a career high for Hughes, and it more than doubled the next closest Devil tonight…Jack’s own brother Luke, who put up six shots of his own, another crazy number. The Hughes brothers were on a mission tonight, and Jack in particular looked unstoppable.

Bill Spaulding made the point on the MSG broadcast that, despite the result of the game, you could argue this was Jack’s best game of the season. I might not agree, but I wouldn’t argue the point that much either. Jack was knifing through defenders left and right, setting up his teammates with killer passes, and absolutely laying siege to Merzlikins this evening. The results were disappointing, but the Hughes boys, especially Jack, played an incredible game tonight.

*Full disclosure: By the time you read this, that number may have changed. As soon as the game ended, the box score on the NHL’s website had the Devils at 45 shots. About 10 minutes later, it was down to 44. And then about 10 more minutes after that, it was down to 42. This happens almost every game now, where the official scorekeepers go back and add or subtract shots after getting a closer look after the game is over. So if that number is off based on what you see in the box score as you read this, just know that I’m going off what it says at the time of this writing.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

After missing about a month and a half with a leg injury, Curtis Lazar returned to the lineup on Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues. It was earlier than any of us expected to see Lazar return, and it was a welcome sight.

Well it’s possible Lazar might have rushed back before he was ready, as he was out of the lineup again tonight.

It’s never good to see a player have to draw out of the lineup immediately after returning from injury, but at the very least it sounds like this latest ailment isn’t too serious. Justin Dowling was reinserted onto the fourth line after a very brief demotion to AHL Utica. Expect to see Dowling until at least the Christmas break.

When Will It End

I’ve written about it many times before, and now here it is once again: Tonight, the Devils had a chance for their first winning streak of four or more games since January of 2023 when they put together a five-game heater. And once again, the Devils failed to reach four wins in a row.

One of my “favorite” stats from last season was the fact that New Jersey did not have a winning streak OR losing streak of longer than three games. It was a consistently inconsistent campaign from start to finish. Well the Devils did suffer a four-game losing streak earlier this season, so now all that’s left is to break the curse of the three-game winning streak.

Tonight was set up pretty well to make it happen: A game against an inferior opponent, a goalie who until tonight couldn’t stop a beach ball, and a road game which we all know the Devils love playing. And yet, that fourth consecutive win remains elusive.

I will continue to be annoying about this until it finally happens. Please New Jersey, give us a four-game winning streak soon. I really don’t think that’s an unreasonable request.

Next Time Out

The Devils return home on Saturday when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins, the first matchup with their Metropolitan Division rival this season. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00pm.

Your Take

What did you make of tonight’s game? Are you as frustrated at the result yet encouraged by the effort as I was? What do you expect in the next game on Saturday? As always, thanks for reading.