Devils Survive a Third Period Onslaught From the Blue Jackets to Win 2-1

Columbus unleashed 24 shots in a lopsided third period. However, New Jersey managed to walk away with the much-needed victory. Check out what happened in this game recap.

New Jersey entered the Saint Patrick’s Day matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets, holding the third playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division. The Devils were six points ahead of Our Hated Rivals, seven points ahead of the Canadiens, and eight points up on the Blue Jackets. Needless to say, the final game of the season series against Columbus held significance.

First Period

Unlike the game against Pittsburgh, New Jersey started the game against Columbus with a much better forecheck. Through the first 13 minutes of play, the Devils were controlling the puck in the Blue Jackets’ zone and winning puck battles after forcing the puck in deep. The line of Erik Haula, Cody Glass, and Jesper Bratt played exceptionally well and threatened on several shifts. The problem was that you would never know that by looking at the shot report.

At 11:56, Denton Mateychuk was penalized for holding Nico Hischier. The Devils won the offensive zone faceoff following the call. They exhibited quick puck movement but could not capitalize on any chances. The second power-play unit’s Tomas Tatar had the best scoring chance on a shot from the slot, but he missed the net like far too many Devils shots in the first period.

Despite controlling the puck in the offensive zone much more often in the first period, the Blue Jackets outshot the Devils eight to five. Per the MSG broadcast, the Devils recorded 18 shot attempts to the Blue Jackets’ 13 in the first frame. Only five of those 18 attempts hit the net and the Devils were outshot eight to five. Several of those missed shots were from high-danger areas, too. Dawson Mercer sent a shot wide from the top of the left circle. Bratt had a puck roll on end, which caused him to shoot it way wide from the slot. On a puck deflected by the referee, Cody Glass received a pass from Erik Haula in front of the net, but he couldn’t find the net.

Defensively, the Devils returned to the simplified strategy that resulted in success before the Penguins game. New Jersey allowed some shots and even allowed two high-danger chances, but they did a good job isolating those chances. After a shot or scoring opportunity, the Devils protected the house and cleared the puck out of the defensive zone. The Blue Jackets’ best scoring chance was on a puck chipped over the Devils’ defensemen by Yegor Chinakhov. Kirill Marchenko recovered the puck behind the Devils’ defense for a breakaway. Marchenko was harried by the closing Devils defensemen. Fortunately, Jake Allen came up with the save. Allen played well and stopped everything in the first period despite looking slightly shaky handling the puck on a couple of opportunities.

Neither team scored in the first period.

Second Period

Columbus tilted the ice back in their favor in the second period. The line of Yegor Chinakhov, Dmitri Voronkov, and Kirill Marchenko gave the Devils problems, forcing Jake Allen to make several big saves. Within the first couple of minutes, Allen made a great save on a Chinakhov shot from the slot. To the Devils’ credit, they forced the Blue Jackets to take shots from the perimeter in the first half of the period.

Play opened up more in the second half of the second frame, and Allen and Columbus netminder Jet Greaves were responsible for keeping the game scoreless for as long as it was. Jesper Bratt hit the post following a fantastic give-and-go with Erik Haula with just over 12 minutes remaining in the period. With just over seven minutes to go, Zach Werenski drove around the Devils’ net and shoveled a pass to Kent Johnston in the slot. Allen made the save on Johnston’s shot and dove on the rebound.

About a minute later, Stefan Noesen made a touch pass to Timo Meier, flying through the neutral zone. Meier dropped his shoulder and made a power move on the Blue Jackets’ defenseman, driving hard to the net and sliding the puck home through the five-hole. 1-0 Devils!

Less than a minute later, Jesper Bratt benefited from a misplayed puck by Jet Greaves. The Columbus goalie tried to gather a dump-in behind the net, but the puck hit off of his stick and drifted out above the goal line. Bratt read the play and put himself in the right place at the right time to bang the puck home before Greaves could regain the net. 2-0 Devils!

The Blue Jackets’ barn seemed deflated following the second Devils goal, but they continued to push back. According to NHL.com, Columbus recorded 14 shots in the second frame, but Allen stopped them all. New Jersey played smart hockey for the final five minutes with the two-goal advantage, making the conservative play and bleeding time off the clock.

Jake Allen and the execution on high-danger scoring chances were why this period ended with the Devils up by two goals. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Devils recorded five high-danger scoring chances to the Blue Jackets’ one.

Third Period

The third period was an all-out onslaught by the Blue Jackets. The Devils were pinned in their defensive zone for about 18 of the 20 minutes, struggling to eek the puck past their blue line. Per the MSG broadcast, Columbus recorded 12 shots within the first half of the frame. Within the first two minutes, a wide-open Yegor Chinakhov received a pass in the slot, forcing Jake Allen to make a pad save and grab the rebound. Zach Werenski fired a tough shot from the point that Allen blockered away. About four minutes later, Allen slid across the crease to save a shot from Marchenko. Those are just the highlight saves I can remember within the first six minutes of the period.

Curtis Lazar was penalized for holding with just under nine minutes remaining in the period. Like the rest of the frame, New Jersey faced a ton of offensive zone pressure from Columbus, but the Devils escaped without damage. Unfortunately, seconds after the penalty time ended, the Blue Jackets broke through. Mathieu Olivier smacked home a puck from the slot after it deflected off of a skate. 2-1 Devils.

New Jersey had a shift in the offensive zone of Columbus for the first time with about three minutes and 40 seconds left to play. Dawson Mercer’s line pinned the puck in deep and kept it there for about a minute and ten seconds. That was the only relief the Devils had from the Blue Jackets’ barrage.

I lost track of the number of saves Jake Allen made within the last four minutes of play. He was the reason why the Devils won this game. The Devils also had the puck luck on their side. Columbus had pucks deflected just wide and bounces that easily could have been deflected into New Jersey’s net throughout the period. Those bounces and deflections went the Devils’ way tonight. The Devils didn’t muster any counterpunch against the Blue Jackets, only recording three shots in the third period. They did just enough (and I mean just enough) to hold onto a win.

Final Result: New Jersey Devils defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1.

Game Stats: NHL.com Recap, NHL.com Game Summary, NHL.com Event Summary, NHL.com Full Play-by-Play, NHL.com Shot Report, Natural Stat Trick Game Stats

Takeaways

Hit the Net!

New Jersey dominated the first period, but not only did they not have any goals to show for it, they didn’t tally the shots to prove it. The Devils held a significant advantage in offensive zone time and shot attempts (18 to 13 per the MSG broadcast), but only a fraction of those attempts (five per NHL.com) reached the net. You cannot score if you don’t shoot it on net. This was an ugly win, but had Columbus been the beneficiary of another bounce in their favor in the third period, much of the negative attention would have been focused on the lack of shots in the first period.

Jake Allen Was Great

Jake Allen saved 45 of the 46 shots he faced, according to NHL.com. He saved eight of the nine high-danger shots that he faced and recorded a save percentage of 0.975. Per Natural Stat Trick, Allen was expected to allow 3.87 goals in tonight’s game but allowed just one. With Jacob Markstrom stumbling after returning from injury, Allen should be considered the 1A goaltender out of the two in the future…at least for a bit.

Jake Allen made so many great saves tonight that he deserves a highlight.

Invisible Bottom Six

The third and fourth lines were invisible tonight. Nico Hischier’s line’s statistics aren’t great, recording a Corsi For Percentage (CF%) of 24.24 at five-on-five per Natural Stat Trick. They played much better according to the eye test, particularly Timo Meier. Cody Glass’ line led the way with a CF% of 58.06. Glass’ line was the only line that outshot the Blue Jackets while they were on the ice. Dawson Mercer’s and Curtis Lazar’s lines recorded Corsi For Percentages of 20.00 and 0.00. Yes, Lazar’s line recorded a 0.00. The third and fourth lines were outshot 14 to one at five-on-five. Lazar’s line didn’t tally a single shot. They were just as insignificant as the statistics say. Besides Mercer’s line pinning the puck in the offensive zone for a minute in the third period and maybe a shot in the first period, it is hard to think of a highlight from either line. This was a game with a playoff-like atmosphere, and the Devils need to get better production from the bottom six.

Up Next

The Devils will return home to face the Calgary Flames on Thursday at 7:00 PM ET.

Your Thoughts

Any way you cut it, a win is a win, which still counts for two points. What do you make of that game? What do you make of that third period? How are you feeling as the playoff picture becomes clearer? Let us know in the comments section below. Thank you for reading, and GO DEVILS!