The New Jersey Devils lost 5-3 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night at the Prudential Center. The Devils played well, but the nasty takedown and subsequent injury to Brenden Dillon, skating in his 1,000th NHL game, quickly became the story. The injury, an ejection, plus some questionable calls, proved too much for New Jersey as they fell to 16-9-1. With the win, the Blue Jackets improved to 12-9-5.

Game Recap

Period One

The Devils had a few great chances just seconds into the opening shift, but Elvis Merzlikins was sharp and kept New Jersey off the board. In the onslaught, Zach Werenski was called for hooking, sending the Devils to the power play.

New Jersey opened the scoring on the power play at 1:26, with a wrist shot by Nico Hischier off a nice pass from Jesper Bratt. Dawson Mercer added a secondary assist.

The Devils stayed hot, and Ondrej Palat cashed in with his second goal of the season at 3:03. Arseny Gritsyuk tallied the lone assist.

The Blue Jackets had a few shots from distance that Jake Allen did well to stop and direct away from trouble.

The Devils were tagged for hooking, giving Columbus its first power play opportunity, and they scored at 9:54 off a redirection in the slot. Denton Mateychuck got the goal with assists from Charlie Coyle and Ivan Provorov.

New Jersey went back to work in the offensive zone, and Luke Hughes had a good look from the high slot that was turned away as they looked to regain the two-goal lead.

Former Devil Brendan Smith, was tagged for a cross-check, and New Jersey went back to the power play. The Devils appeared to score just after the man-advantage, but the Blue Jackets challenged, and the goal was overturned for goaltender interference.

Stefan Noesen ended up in the blue paint, but it was a judgment call by the officials to decide if he was pushed in by Dante Fabbro or not.

With just over 30 seconds left in the frame, Dougie Hamilton was sent to the box for hooking, the fourth penalty of the period.

The Devils outshot the Blue Jackets 10-8 in the opening frame.

Period Two

A Columbus player crashed into Allen, drawing a scrum at the net front on the power play. Brenden Dillon, with his jersey pulled over his head, was driven headfirst into the ice by Dmitri Voronkov. Dillon was slow to get up and needed help getting off the ice.

The Blue Jackets had the extra penalty, but during the brief four-on-four period, they tied the contest. Sean Monahan got the goal with assists from Cole Sillinger and Werenski.

The Devils had an abbreviated power play and generated a few chances, but couldn’t regain their lead.

New Jersey was rightfully unhappy with how Voronkov took down Dillon, and Connor Brown and Paul Cotter went after a few Blue Jackets. Adam Fantilli grabbed Jonas Siegenthaler, who didn’t want to fight, but after his jersey was pulled over his head, retaliated and caught Fantilli with a few blows.

Siegenthaler was assessed a game misconduct after the officials determined that his jersey was not properly attached to his pants, allowing it to be pulled over his head.

With the ejection, the Devils were down to four defensemen.

The teams came together again, and only Damon Severson was sent to the box, potentially a makeup call for the penalties handed out during the previous scrum.

Dillon reappeared on the bench to the excitement of the crowd. Meanwhile, Noesen got the take-down on Voronkov during a scrap. Off the next face-off, Cotter went after Smith, and the two grappled along the wall, earning five minutes each for fighting.

After regular hockey activities resumed, Palat and Gritsyuk generated a great chance and fought for the puck in the blue paint, but couldn’t poke it home. Simon Nemec had a blast from distance that nearly beat Merzlikins, but wouldn’t go.

Dillon took his first shift back on the ice, and the crowd roared with chants of his name, showing their support.

The Devils surged but weren’t quite connected and couldn’t regain the lead.

Columbus turned the puck over right in front of their net, but the Devils overpassed and lost the opportunity. They had another look off the rush, but Hischier’s shot was deflected high.

Cody Glass and Monahan wrestled, and each player was assessed a roughing minor.

The Devils outshot the Blue Jackets 14-11 in the middle frame.

Period Three

Dillon, again, wasn’t on the bench to begin the third period, so the Devils were back down to four defensemen.

Gritsyuk caught Provorov with a crunching reverse hit as the Devils were on the front foot early in the final period.

The Blue Jackets grabbed their first lead of the game at 6:40 against the flow of play with a shot from distance that was chipped home off a rebound. Coyle got the goal with assists from Werenski and Miles Wood.

Columbus extended their lead at 7:14 after Nemec lost his stick, and Monahan was open in front. Isac Lundestrom had the lone assist.

Sheldon Keefe was, again, unhappy with the officials because Wood grabbed Nemec’s stick out of his hands and sent it to the other side of the zone without a call, directly leading to the goal.

The Devils got a power play opportunity midway through the period, and cashed in at 11:51, with a beautiful saucer pass from Bratt that found Timo Meier, who buried the puck over Merzlikins. Hischier tallied a secondary assist.

Allen left his net to play the puck, but there was a miscommunication, and he passed it right to a Columbus player. Wood hit the empty net at 13:31. Coyle had the only assist.

Down by two, the Devils pulled Allen in favor of the extra attacker, but they couldn’t light the lamp to pull within one.

The Devils outshot the Blue Jackets 33-25 in the loss.

Takeaways

Hockey Activities

In terms of play, the Devils clearly looked like the better team in the first period. They scored early and were controlling play until the second, when everything went off the rails. Even from that point, the Devils played well, especially with only four defensemen. They generated chances and hemmed the Blue Jackets in their D-zone, but couldn’t capitalize and take advantage of their early lead.

In the defensive zone, the Devils did the best they could. Losing a player like Dillon in his 1,000th game clearly affected the team, and they were a bit disconnected, especially in the middle frame. Adding in Siegenthaler’s game misconduct, the already injury-riddled blue line got even thinner, and forced Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, Dougie Hamilton and Dennis Cholowski to shoulder the load for nearly two full periods.

Unsurprisingly, there were mishaps around the net. Nobody was able to block Coyle or get a stick on the rebound on the third goal for Columbus. Again, on the fifth goal, there was a miscommunication between Allen and Luke Hughes, leading to a turnover in front of an empty net.

The fourth goal was the result of a missed holding the stick penalty that saw Nemec’s stick ripped out of his hand and tossed to the other side of the zone. Nemec was unable to make a play in the corner without it and couldn’t properly protect the blue paint seconds later, when the puck hit the net.

The Rest of the Game

The story from Monday’s contest had less to do with the actual hockey and more to do with Dillon’s injury and the ensuing chaos.

Sheldon Keefe was openly displeased with Voronkov and gave a lengthy speech postgame.

He stated, “All I know is there is no more honorable player in this league than Brenden Dillon, and plays as hard and honest a game as anybody in the league. He would never do something like that to another player, that I know for certain. I don’t like it at all. I don’t think Dilly knows he’s in a fight. I think he’s tackled from behind, and before he knows it, his helmet is off, his jersey is over his head, and you saw what happened from there.”

Dillon returned for four shifts in the second but did not come back out for the third. Postgame, it was noted he was held out for precautionary reasons.

Keefe was also unhappy with how Siegenthaler’s ejection was handled.

“I don’t like that either,” he said. “Siegenthaler received seven punches before he removed his gloves. So, for me, there should be an extra penalty there. I don’t know how that works, whether that affects the fact that his jersey should be tied down because he wasn’t a willing fighter until he just had to try and protect himself.”

Section 46.13 of the NHL Rulebook, regarding jerseys, indicates that should the opponent be identified as the instigator, the player whose jersey was removed should not be assessed a game misconduct regardless of whether his jersey was “tied down”.

Keefe argued that Fantilli should have been identified as the instigator because Siegenthaler was so reluctant to drop his gloves, and only did when he was forced to.

Up Next

The Devils look to get back in the win column on Wednesday night when they take on the Dallas Stars in Newark.

The Stars sit second in the Central Division with a 17-5-4 record. They are 8-1-1 in their last 10 contests. Most recently, they defeated the Ottawa Senators 6-1 on Sunday.

Dallas will take on the New York Rangers on Tuesday night before travelling to New Jersey to meet the Devils the next night.

Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. on MSGSN.

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