New Jersey Devils return to Columbus to face Blue Jackets
The New Jersey Devils (25-28-12) travel to Nationwide Arena to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets (41-17-6) tonight in a rematch of Sunday’s game in Newark.
On Sunday, the Blue Jackets shutout the Devils 3-0 to tie the season series at one game each. With the win, Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky became the franchise record-holder of wins in a single season by capturing his 34th of the campaign. He will get the start again tonight in hopes of extending the record.
Related Story: Sergei Bobrovsky: Backup Goalie to Blue Jackets Legend
INJURY REPORT
For Columbus, forward Josh Anderson will be out of the lineup tonight due to a leg injury he suffered in Sunday’s game. In his place will be 25 year-old T.J. Tynan. Tynan was added to the roster today on emergency recall from Columbus’ AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. Tynan is the season point leader for Cleveland with 7 goals and 23 assists in 55 games.
Forwards Matt Calvert and Lukas Sedlak are still out of action with oblique strains. Sedlak is considered day-to-day while Calvert is week-to-week with both being able to skate on the ice.
New Jersey will welcome back forward Miles Wood and defenseman Damon Severson, who both return to action after missing Sunday’s game. Captain defenseman Andy Greene will miss tonight’s game following his father’s death this past weekend. Greene did not play in Sunday’s loss either.
Related Story: Jackets shut out Devils
MATCHUP HISTORY
Tuesday’s game will be the 28th contest between the two teams as Columbus narrowly leads the all-time series with a record of 13-12-1-1. The Devils are 6-6-0-2 when playing in Nationwide Arena but have won the last time they played in Columbus, routing the Blue Jackets 5-1 on Feb. 4 this year.
The Jackets and Devils have faced off against each other two times already this year; the first when New Jersey won 5-1 in Columbus behind Taylor Hall‘s two-goal performance. In that game, Devils goaltender Cory Schneider played extremely well, stopping 31 of the 32 shots that came his way. The second meeting occurred on Sunday night when Columbus was able to go to Newark, NJ and dominate the Devils on their own ice. Schneider was not nearly as effective there, stopping 19 shots and allowing the 3 goals that would be the final score’s difference. Forwards Boone Jenner, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Sam Gagner would be the trio to put the puck in the net.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
| Devils | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Blue Jackets | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
STATISTICAL COMPARISON
As expected, the Columbus Blue Jackets are a much better team on paper than the New Jersey Devils. With 16 more wins than their Metropolitan Division foe New Jersey, the Jackets are ahead of New Jersey (as well as the league average) in every single team statistical category according to Hockey-Reference.com.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Defender Markus Nutivarra is expected to be back in the lineup while recently acquired defenseman Kyle Quincey looks to be a healthy scratch against his former team tonight. Forward Alexander Wennberg will be on the second line tonight with Brandon Saad and captain Nick Foligno while Brandon Dubinsky will be in the first line. As previously mentioned, Sergei Bobrovsky will be in net for the game. Per the Blue Jackets’ Twitter, here is the full projected lineup.
BOB gets the start, Markus Nutivaara gets back in the #CBJ lineup.@BlueTech_Inc projected lines & pairs 👇 pic.twitter.com/Zz9irzPGTk
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) March 7, 2017
The Devils will be projected to start former Blue Jacket, defenseman Dalton Prout will be on the third line tonight. Prout played a season-high in time on Sunday.
Backup goaltender Keith Kinkaid will be protecting New Jersey’s net tonight as Schneider will get the night off after playing the last six games, all of which have been losses.
Per Craig Merz of NHL.com, New Jersey’s lineup will be:
Taylor Hall — Travis Zajac — Kyle Palmieri
Pavel Zacha — Adam Henrique — Devante Smith-Pelly
Miles Wood — Blake Coleman — Nick Lappin
Beau Bennett — Joseph Blandisi – Stefan Noesen
Damon Severson — Dalton Prout
Keith Kinkaid
PREDICTION
Obvious bias aside, I predict a Columbus Blue Jackets victory tonight. The Blue Jackets defense and goaltending has been stellar since returning from the bye week, only allowing six goals in as many games. It also looks like Sam Gagner is back to scoring with back-to-back games with a goal after not scoring for 30 or so games. The Jackets are starting to get in a groove while the Devils are hitting a rough patch. New Jersey has lost the seven in a row and I just can’t see them breaking that on one of the best team’s ice. I say 4-2 for the Jackets tonight.