The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (16-8-1) versus the Columbus Blue Jackets (11-9-5)
Looking For Better Games Against the Metro
Not much has broken Columbus’ way this season, who are 0-2-2 since they were in sixth place in the second Division Snapshot. Those four losses dropped them to last place in the division, though they are still only seven points out of first place. Nothing going on under the surface suggests they should remain very close to a playoff spot, though. Sean Monahan should be the chief of their worries, as he only has three goals and eight assists this season after scoring 57 points in 54 games last year. Without Monahan at his best, Columbus will have a lot of trouble getting out of eighth place. With Boone Jenner also still out of the lineup, they don’t have easy answers down the middle for improving their middle six performance.
In net, Jet Greaves has gotten the majority of the starts, but Elvis Merzlikins has faced a tougher workload in his minutes. Greaves is 7-4-5 with a .901 save percentage and 2.81 goals against average, while Merzlikins is 4-5-0 with an .894 save percentage and 3.55 goals against average. Merzlikins is facing over 33 shots per game, while Greaves faces a bit over 29 per game. Both goalies have kept games winnable for Columbus, though.
The Devils will be facing several former teammates again tonight, as Damon Severson and Miles Wood (who is recovered from his eye injury in that earlier matchup) have been joined by Brendan Smith, who has an assist in two games. Wood has regained some of his bottom six scoring prowess this year (though he is still defensively suspect), while Severson has played a more reserved and defensive game. They fill out part of the supporting cast for Columbus’ top players in Zach Werenski (who has apparently been playing through lingering issues this season), Kirill Marchenko (who has been out since November 22 but is skating), Dmitri Voronkov, Adam Fantilli, and Charlie Coyle. The Blue Jackets, again, would love to see Monahan start scoring like those five, but the majority of the team’s offense is right there.
Brenden Dillon will be playing in his 1,000th regular season game tonight, and the Devils should have a silver stick lined up for him in a pregame ceremony. Dillon, of course, was undrafted, so his quick rise to being a top four defenseman in the NHL, allowing him to reach 1,000 games less than three weeks after his 35th birthday, is nothing short of incredible. This season, Dillon has shown why he has gotten this far: he has been defensively sound, bringing an edge to the blueline, while he has also gotten off to a decent start on the offensive side. With three goals and six assists, Dillon is on a 29 to 30-point pace, while his previous career high was 23, set in 2022-23.
A team like Columbus should be ideal for the kind of defensive consistency issues the Devils are currently having. With a top-heavy attack, the Dillon-White pairing can be deployed against their top lines, with the Siegenthaler-Hamilton pairing handling the rest of the defensive situations. After last game against Philadelphia, I think Sheldon Keefe might want to put Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec against strictly bottom six competition, which might allow them to get more offensively creative without the risk of Columbus successfully counterattacking their pairing.
With a game looming against the Dallas Stars, I think tonight would be a good game for Jacob Markstrom to play. He is starting to look better in net, but I would rather have the hotter hand in Jake Allen take the reigns for what should be a tougher game on Wednesday night. Hopefully, the Devils play a better game in front of whoever is in net, as their performance on Saturday was weak. As soon as the Devils have two goalies performing at the top of their game, the playoff race will begin to feel much more comfortable, and I want to see the defense put Markstrom in a good position tonight if he does play.
What do you think of tonight’s game? Will you be watching? Do you think the defense will straighten out tonight? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.