Elvis Merzlikins earned his first shutout of the season with 24 saves Feb. 3 in Newark, New Jersey, backstopping the Blue Jackets to a 3-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils to push their winning streak to a season-high six straight games.
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Mathieu Olivier scored two goals and defenseman Dante Fabbro scored one in his return from a six-game absence for a foot laceration.
Fabbro’s goal put the Blue Jackets up 1-0 at 5:24 of the third period and Olivier scored the next two, making it 2-0 on a breakaway with 7:55 left and being awarded a goal with 4:00 left by outskating Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton to draw a slashing penalty while skating at an empty net.
Feb 3, 2026; Newark, New Jersey, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins (90) defends his net against the New Jersey Devils during the second period at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images
Along with their winning streak, the Blue Jackets improved to 10-1-0 in their past 11 games and have a shot to make it 11-1-0 by winning a seventh straight to conclude a back-to-back against the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 4 at Nationwide Arena.
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The Blue Jackets briefly took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal by Danton Heinen, but it was taken away after a coach’s challenge for goaltender interference showed that Miles Wood interfered with Markstrom after entering the crease on his own volition.
It stayed 0-0 through the rest of the first period, all of the second and five-plus minutes into the third before Fabbro finally broke through to put the Blue Jackets up 1-0 on his fourth goal of the year.
Winning their sixth game in a row helped the Blue Jackets keep pressure on teams ahead of them and neck-and-neck with them in the Metropolitan Division. The Jackets moved to 63 points going into their final game before the NHL’s break for the upcoming 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy, which they’ll play against the Blackhawks on Feb. 4 at Nationwide Arena
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Should the Blue Jackets win their seventh straight game, they’ll pull within two points of the New York Islanders for third place in the Metro and the division’s final guaranteed playoff ticket. The Islanders staged a late win in overtime Feb. 3 against the second-place Pittsburgh Penguins, who could’ve given the Blue Jackets a chance to tie the Islanders had their lead held up late in regulation.
The Washington Capitals also have 63 points and lost 4-2 to the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 3, allowing the Blue Jackets to move ahead based on points percentage with fewer games played. Columbus is fourth in the Metro, Washington is fifth and the Flyers (60 points) are sixth. In the Eastern Conference wild-card chase, the Blue Jackets are ahead of the Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs based on points percentage and five points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild card with a game in hand.
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets blank New Jersey Devils for sixth straight win