NEWARK – Galvanized.

That was the buzzword coming out of the visiting locker room at the Prudential Center on Monday night, a room held by the Columbus Blue Jackets, who were fresh off a very emotionally-charged 5-3 win over the New Jersey Devils.

It isn’t so much that they won — a victory that keeps them within two points of the last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference — it’s how they did it, maintaining their composure during a wild, fight-filled game that may have sparked something of a rivalry.

Dmitri Voronkov’s fight with Brenden Dillon at the 1:01 mark of the second period, a controversial, one-sided scrap in which New Jersey head coach Sheldon Keefe suggested that Voronkov didn’t allow for a fair bout with the veteran defenseman, who was playing in his 1,000th career NHL game, sparked a slugfest.

Both teams combined for 74 penalty minutes, including four total fights, and there are plenty of leftover bad feelings — mostly on New Jersey’s side — heading into what’s now a highly-anticipated rematch in Columbus on New Year’s Eve.

For now, however, the focus was on how the Blue Jackets were able to keep their cool amid the chaos.

“You’re trying to (keep a level head) for sure, but it’s tough,” said defenseman Zach Werenski. “Emotions are high on both sides, and understandably so. It’s part of the game, it’s part of hockey. You’re just trying to kind of find that middle ground of still playing the game and keeping your head there, but also being engaged with all the other stuff. I think we handled it very well tonight, we haven’t had a game like that in a long time. I think it’s a good win for our group, that’s the most important thing. Even in situations like that, we can find ways to win.”

It’s the type of win that can bring a team together, an early test passed that’s proof positive that the group will fight for each other, quite literally, to achieve a common goal.

Monday night was a very obvious example of it, but Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason seemed to object to it being any sort of turning point for a team he already knew had this in them.

“This is our group,” he said. “That’s our group, that’s how we play. I hope just because we got into a few fights tonight, that it doesn’t look abnormal to you because we work our (tails) off every night.  Maybe we haven’t been rewarded as of late, but we got rewarded tonight with some breaks and some bounces and we stuck together, which we talked about before the game. We got the job done.”