The Columbus Blue Jackets needed to find a better start if they hoped to defeat the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. Thanks to an unreal performance by Elvis Merzlikins, they did just that.
Sean Monahan paced the offense by scoring two goals while Kirill Marchenko added two assists to help the Blue Jackets to a 4-2 win over the Devils. The story of this game was the performance of Merzlikins thwarting a historic effort by Jack Hughes.
Game Recap
The Blue Jackets were able to score first to help settle themselves down. A great play by Zach Aston-Reese helped create a scoring chance and a rebound. Ivan Provorov jumped up and converted the rebound to make it 1-0. The goal seemed to help settle the team down.
There were no penalties on either side and it was a pretty low-event first period with the Devils outshooting the Blue Jackets 7-6. The second period was usually one of the best periods for the Devils and one of the worst for the Blue Jackets. It was the Blue Jackets that outscored the Devils 2-0 in the middle frame.
On a power play, Zach Werenski scored his 11th goal of the season. That was his 334th NHL point which tied him with Nick Foligno for fourth on the all-time Blue Jackets’ scoring list.
The lead was then extended to 3-0 thanks to Monahan. He was in front of Devils’ goalie Jake Allen. A rebound came right to him and he roofed it. From there, Merzlikins stole the show.
Jack Hughes finished with a career-high 13 shots on goal, which was just one off the Devils’ franchise record. He was unable to beat Merzlikins on any of them. This included a couple 10-bell saves.
Luke Hughes finished the night with six shots and was finally able to beat Merzlikins with Allen pulled. There was just 2:50 left in the game. The puck went to Luke after a couple bounces and had a wide-open net to finish.
Then 1:25 later, Jack’s shot was deflected by Timo Meier to pull the Devils within one. The Devils took timeout right after to keep their top stars on. This ultimately helped the Blue Jackets keep their best out there too. It also provided Merzlikins a much needed breather.
Monahan was then able to score his second of the game into an empty net to make the final score 4-2. Cole Sillinger disrupted Jack Hughes enough to create the turnover and the insurance goal.
The Devils outshot the Blue Jackets 42-20 on the night. Merzlikins finished with 40 saves. Meanwhile, Allen finished with 16 saves on 19 shots.
The Blue Jackets next play Saturday night in Philadelphia. The Devils head home to play the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.
