The Blue Jackets held their home opener on Monday night, with the New Jersey Devils coming to town. The annual season opening festivities at Nationwide led to an excited crowd to start this one.
The Jackets swarmed the Devils early, stretching a big shot advantage over the Devils. New Jersey goaltender Jake Allen started strong though, stopping all 16 shots thrown at him in the first period.
Part of that was due to an early four minute man advantage due to an errant Dougie Hamilton stick that clipped CBJ forward Miles Wood right near the eye. Wood left the game bleeding and would not return, with what was only called an "upper body" injury.
Despite the strong effort from the home team, it was the Devils who struck first. With Adam Fantilli in the box for hooking, the visitors found the back of the net on the power-play.
A quick pass across to Timo Meier made it difficult for CBJ goaltender Jet Greaves to cover up the gap, and the veteran goal scorer made no mistake.
The score would remain 1-0 until almost halfway through the second period. The Jackets would get on the board with a terrific play from Kirill Marchenko.
He stripped Devils forward Jack Hughes at his own blue line, then went coast to coast and fired a high shot over Allen's glove to tie the game at 8:49 on an unassisted goal.
Unfortunately, the celebration was short-lived. The Jackets again found themselves shorthanded thanks to a hooking penalty, this time to Cole Sillinger. On their second power-play of the game, the Devils scored their second power-play goal.
This one came after Allen stopped Fantilli on a shorthanded 3-on-1 rush. A quick counter led to an odd-man rush at the other end, with Dawson Mercer beating Greaves to make it a 2-1 game 11:09 into the second. They took that lead into the second intermission.
To start the third period, there was a bit of a surprise: Jake Allen did not return, forcing the Devils to put Jacob Markstrom into the goal to try to hold onto their thin lead.
The Blue Jackets continued to put pressure on the Devils, but they could not find the equalizer. Markstrom picked up right where Allen left off, stopping the first 8 shots the Jackets directed his way.
New Jersey would put the game out of reach with an empty net goal from Mercer, who scored his second of the night to make it 3-1 at 19:03 of the period.
The Jackets were able to get one back at 19:39 from Dmitri Voronkov, but it was too little, too late. They fall to 1-2-0 on the season.
Three standouts:
1. Kirill Marchenko. He's been the best player on the ice in all three Blue Jackets games to start this season. He played almost 25 minutes tonight, had 5 shots on goal, and scored a beauty after stripping the puck from one of the best offensive players in the league.
2. Zach Werenski. Zach didn't find the scoresheet, but he had the kind of game we're coming to expect. Over 29 minutes played. 7 shots on goal. At this rate, he'll be back in the Norris conversation again this year
3. Dmitri Voronkov. Even if he hadn't scored a goal in the final 20 seconds, Big Boss was going to get this mention. He had 5 shots on goal, scored the late tally, and was noticeable from a physical perspective tonight.
In summary:
The Jackets were, once again, the better team tonight. They were very good at even strength, but it's the special teams game that continues to haunt this team, on both sides of things.
Their power-play went 0/5, while New Jersey went 2/2. That was the difference tonight. When you're getting 3 more extra man advantages than your opponent, there are no excuses for not winning the game.
The Devils got terrific goaltending, but I didn't think the Jackets did enough to generate second or third chances. That's an area they will need to figure out soon.
Meanwhile, their penalty kill is quickly emerging as one of the worst in the league. Through 3 games played, they have given up 9 goals. 7 of them have been while shorthanded. That's not a recipe for success, and it's another thing they need to figure out very soon.
The good news is, they will have a couple of days to practice and hopefully dial things in. The Jackets are off until Thursday, when the Colorado Avalanche come to town.