The Columbus Blue Jackets entered this game on a 1-6-2 skid. The New Jersey Devils were first in the East.
James Malatesta made his season debut after a call-up from Cleveland.
First Period
If the goal of calling up Malatesta was to bring energy, it didn’t work in the first half of the first period. New Jersey had the edge in opportunities early on.
Nevertheless, the Jackets ended up drawing first blood thanks to an aggressive play. Zach Aston-Reese carried the puck into the zone and towards the net with force. Cole Sillinger drew the attention of goalie Jake Allen and the Jersey defense, but Ivan Provorov followed the play and tapped in the rebound
It was an even period after that, but one defensive highlight was Jordan Harris hustling back on defense to slow down a breakaway, followed by Elvis Merzlikins making a key save to maintain the 1-0 score going into the break.
Second Period
The first penalty of the game came when Thomas Tatar hooked Jordan Harris. The Blue Jackets managed a long offensive zone possession on this power play, but not enough shots or high quality chances.
Josh Dun from Twenty One Pilots was in attendance. Sure, it’s a shamless attempt to promote the band performing at the Stadium Series in March. On the other hand, the fact that he is rocking the 2021 Reverse Retro in 2024 is a sign of his bona fides as a Columbus resident and longtime CBJ fan.
Timo Meier crashed into Elvis on a breakway, and in Zach Werenski made him pay in the ensuing power play. Initially it was ruled that Dmitri Voronkov tipped in, but that was corrected later in the game. It was just an amazing shot from Z.
That ties Werenski with Nick Foligno for 4th place in points by a Blue Jacket.
Elvis maintained the lead thanks to huge saves, like this on Jack Hughes.
Sean Monahan got an insurance goal after a great feed from Kirill Marchenko.
Later in the period, Werenski took a penalty for sending the puck over the glass, but the PK and Elvis did a great job to maintain the shutout going into the second intermission.
Third Period
Unsurprisingly, the Devils kept the pressure up in the third period, but the Jackets defense responded. Elvis kept making big saves, and there were good defensive efforts from players like Jordan Harris (stopped a breakaway chance) and Olivier (made multiple blocks in a single shift, in addition to a big puck battle along the boards).
Sheldon Keefe pulled goalie Jake Allen with over 5 minutes remaining in the game. The Jackets defense held strong, but that’s a lot of time. With 2:50 left, Luke Hughes ended the shutout. The goal came while Elvis was on his back, sans stick, after having made several saves before that.
The Jackets kept getting sticks on pucks, but couldn’t get any of those clearing attempts out of the zone, let alone into the empty net.
With 1:30 remaining, and Allen pulled again, Timo Meier deflected a long range Jack Hughes shot to narrow the lead to 1.
We were all worried that the Jacket would blow this one, but Cole Sillinger managed to force a turnover on the forecheck just as Jake Allen vacated the net. Silly got the puck to Monahan, who buried the empty-netter from the blue line to seal the victory.
Final Thoughts
Olivier was awarded the donkey hat thanks to his four blocked shots, but this should have been Elvis’s.
New Jersey had 5.69 expected goals for at all situations. Elvis allowed 2, both at 6v5. That’s the definition of stealing a win.
What a night for the Brothers Hughes. Jack had 13 shots on goal and Luke had 9. At one point, the two accounted for exactly half of the Devils’ shots. Each time Elvis made a highlight reel save, it seemed to be against one of those guys.
I already knew that Jack Hughes was good, but watching him tonight reminded me of what a special player he is. He dominated each possession when he was on the ice, and could create something out of nothing. That’s what we hope that a guy like Adam Fantilli or Kent Johnson can become.
Seriously, though, why didn’t Elvis get the donkey hat?
Up Next
While many of us will be watching with dread as the Ohio State Buckeyes face the Tennessee Volunteers in the first round of the College Football Playoff, the Blue Jacket will travel to Philadelphia to face the Flyers at 7 PM EST.