Three things we learned about the Blue Jackets in last night's win against the Devils

The Blue Jackets continue to be red hot. They won their sixth game in a row on Tuesday night, downing the New Jersey Devils by a 3-0 score in Newark.

Through 40 minutes, the game could have best been described as boring. There was one disallowed goal from Danton Heinen. Aside from that, it was choppy for both teams.

But, the Jackets came out and won the third period, out-shooting the Devils 13-7, and out-scoring them 3-0 to take home the win. Sometimes, that's what it takes to win on the road.

The Jackets did their very best to make this a low event game through the first two periods.

They checked, blocked shots, and mostly played it safe in the offensive zone. It might have been a little too safe at times, but it worked. They frustrated the Devils and then took the game over as a result.

Dante Fabbro finally broke the ice with a goal that counted, scoring at 5:24 of the third period off of a broken play. After Kent Johnson's shot died in traffic, the Devils slapped the puck out of the slot and right onto the stick of Fabbro, who fired a shot underneath the pile and into the net.

Despite the Devils push-back, the Jackets did not break. They continued to play strong team defense, and then capitalized on a neutral zone turnover to make it 2-0.

The prettiest goal of the night started with hard work. Ivan Provorov breaks up the Devils rush at his own blue line. Boone Jenner comes back in support and wins a wall battle. He then feeds it to Cole Sillinger, who fell back in support.

Cole wisely gains the blue line, buys an extra half second to draw in the lone defender, and dishes it to Mathieu Olivier. The rest is all #24, as he makes a terrific move and scores an absolute beauty on Jacob Markstrom to make it a 2-0 game.

That goal pretty much took the life out of the Devils. They had some good shifts afterwards, but they weren't scoring last night. Elvis Merzlikins stood strong in the Blue Jackets net, and Olivier was credited with his second goal of the night thanks to a penalty while he broke in on the empty net.

Three things we learned...

1. They played Rick Bowness hockey for the first time.

Though they have been winning games, I'll admit that I have had my concerns about the way the Jackets have been playing. Most importantly, they have still been giving up quite a bit in the defensive zone.

That wasn't the case last night. Yes, the Devils had some shifts in their end. Yes, they generated some chances. And, they hit the post a few times.

But, overall, the Blue Jackets won the game last night because they committed to playing defense as a team. There were no wide open net-front chances. There were very few high danger shots, at least in comparison to what they might have faced a month ago.

They played much better in their own end, and as a result, their goaltender was able to make the saves they needed him to make.

In transition, nobody cheated for offense. For the full 60 minutes, puck support was there. The passes were short and easy, so they got out of their own end a lot quicker than we are used to seeing.

That's Rick Bowness hockey. Last night was a very encouraging effort from this team.

2. Elvis is back.

Last night, Elvis Merzlikins stopped 2.16 goals above expected. Since Bowness was hired to coach the Jackets, he has a .910% save percentage and a 5-1-0 record.

We have wondered for years what the issue with Elvis was, but I think we know now. There were two problems here, and the biggest one was the way the team played (or didn't play) defense in front of him.

The other? I have a hunch that Elvis didn't exactly feel like part of the team under Dean Evason. No matter what improvements or changes were made around him, there wasn't a level of trust or appreciation between player and coach.

All of that seems to be mending itself right in front of us. Here's exhibit 1A of my argument:

That's the face of a guy who has had the world lifted off of his shoulders. He is feeling really good about himself, his game, and this team. Elvis is back.

3. Cole Sillinger is the most improved player since the coaching change.

It took him a few games, but is there any Blue Jacket playing better hockey than Cole Sillinger right now? I would be hard pressed to point anyone out. In his last 5 games, he has 5 points and a +6 rating. Last night, I thought he was the best player on the ice for either team.

He made a nice play and was rewarded with an assist, but my goodness, he was all over the ice. He broke up a lot of what the Devils were trying to get going, and played with a level of compete and determination that we haven't seen since his rookie year.

Whatever Rick Bowness is preaching to this team, nobody is hearing it louder than Cole Sillinger. Fight me on this one, if you want.

With last night's win, the Jackets have kept pace with the New York Islanders. They sit 4 points back in the standings, with 2 games in hand. They are right back at it tonight, at home against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Let's give them a 5th Line sendoff to be proud of, as they head into the Olympic break. This team deserves it.