Game #36 Preview and GameThread: Columbus Blue Jackets at New Jersey Devils
Here’s what you need to know.
Columbus Blue Jackets at New Jersey Devils
Sunday, December 23, 2018 - 12:30 PM EST
Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
TV: Fox Sports Ohio - Radio: 97.1 WBNS FM
Opponent’s Blog: All About the Jersey
Columbus Blue Jackets, 20-12-3, 43 points, 2nd Metro, 6th East
@
New Jersey Devils, 12-15-7, 31 points, 8th Metro, 16th East
After the Columbus Blue Jackets held on down the stretch in yesterday’s matinee victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, the team had to quickly regroup and travel to Newark for today’s matinee as the team takes on the New Jersey Devils at 12:30 this afternoon.
The Devils and Jackets played just days ago, with Columbus winning 2-1 in Nationwide Arena on the back of a Cam Atkinson penalty shot. Just as the Jackets are coming in to the game on the heels of a win, so too are the Devils, a 5-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Friday night that involved one of the wildest sequences in the league this season:
An absolutely ridiculous play sequence by the Devils leads to a crazy goal for Taylor Hall. 😐https://t.co/dIR8XDPNoT
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 22, 2018
I’ll wait for everyone to go watch that sequence.
[waiting]
Welcome back! Taylor Hall is pretty good, huh? Anyway, this is the final game before the Christmas break. Let’s finish this stretch with a win.
Player to Watch
Joonas Korpisalo
With Sergei Bobrovsky going in yesterday’s matinee, look for Korpi to get the nod in New Jersey today. Korpisalo enters with a 3-1-1 road record on the year, sporting a .896 SV% and 3.40 GAA. The renewed focus on defense and limiting chances by the Jackets should help Korpisalo out in New Jersey, which has struggled on the offensive end for much of the season. This should be a game Korpisalo handles and gets the Jackets into the Christmas Break with a four game winning streak.
Jackets Notes
Cam Atkinson is eighth in the NHL in goals scored after potting two yesterday, bringing his total up to 22 ... Atkinson is one behind Joe Pavelski, trailing leader Alex Ovechkin by seven ... Riley Nash has not played on the penalty kill in December ... The Jackets’ kill in December, meanwhile, is 8th best in the NHL ... Brandon Dubinsky picked up 21 penalty minutes yesterday ... Every player on the top line had multiple pointes yesterday
The Other Bench
No one outside of the Devils’ top line has reached 20 points for the season yet ... Taylor Hall had four points in Friday’s game, and has five points in his last two games ... Marcus Johansson left the game against the Blue Jackets on Thursday and went to IR with an injury
Season Series
12/20/2018 NJD 1 @ CBJ 2
12/23/2018 CBJ @ NJD
01/15/2019 NJD @ CBJ
03/05/2019 CBJ @ NJD
Stats
| New Jersey | Columbus | |
|---|---|---|
| 3.00 (14) | GPG | 3.26 (10) |
| 3.53 (28) | GAPG | 3.09 (20) |
| 18.2% (21) | PP% | 14.3% (26) |
| 82.7% (8) | PK% | 80.0% (15) |
| 49.48% (20) | EV Corsi % | 49.48% (19) |
| 0.984 (25) | EV PDO | 1.004 (13) |
| Kyle Palmieri, 18 | G Leader | Cam Atkinson, 22 |
| Taylor Hall, 26 | A Leader | Artemi Panarin, 27 |
| Taylor Hall, 37 | P Leader | Artemi Panarin, Cam Atkinson, 37 |
| Miles Wood, 47 | PIM Leader | Pierre-Luc Dubois, 38 |
| 9-3-4 | Home / Road | 10-5-1 |
| 3-4-3 | Last 10 | 5-4-1 |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Artemi Panarin | Pierre-Luc Dubois | Cam Atkinson |
| Nick Foligno | Alexander Wennberg | Anthony Duclair |
| Oliver Bjorkstrand | Boone Jenner | Josh Anderson |
| Markus Hannikainen | Brandon Dubinsky | Riley Nash |
| Zach Werenski | Seth Jones |
| Ryan Murray | Markus Nutivaara |
| David Savard | Scott Harrington |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
New Jersey Devils
| Taylor Hall | Nico Hischier | Kyle Palmieri |
| Drew Stafford | Pavel Zacha | Jesper Bratt |
| Miles Wood | Travis Zajac | Blake Coleman |
| Brian Boyle | Brett Seney | John Quenneville |
| Andy Greene | Damon Severson |
| Will Butcher | Sami Vatanen |
| Mirco Mueller | Ben Lovejoy |
| Keith Kinkaid |
| MacKenzie Blackwood |