It’s the type of win the Columbus Blue Jackets may look back on next spring and recognize as a turning point.

The Blue Jackets were challenged on three different fronts by the New Jersey Devils on Monday in Prudential Center, and their response — authoritative, passionate, collective — led them to a much-needed 5-3 win before 13,881.

“It was an outstanding win for us, but, more importantly, I love how we stuck together as a team, especially the second period,” said Blue Jackets winger Miles Wood, who played a pivotal role against one of his former clubs.

“It was a fun game to be a part of. It was a choppy game. There were a lot of penalties on both sides, so it was hard to say in the game at times. But, we stuck through it and we got a great two points here.”

The win snapped a four-game losing streak (0-1-3) and was the Blue Jackets’ first win in regulation since Nov. 13.

Sean Monahan scored two goals for the Blue Jackets, while Charlie Coyle (1-2-3), Wood (1-1-2) and Denton Mateychuk (1-0-1) added goals, and Zach Werenski had two assists.

Goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, rarely known for maintaining his cool, stayed calm in the middle of the chaos, making 30 saves to earn his first win since Oct. 29. Merzlikins allowed goals on consecutive shots early in the game, allowing the Devils to go up 2-0 only 3:03 into the game.

That was the first challenge for Columbus. How many times through the years, especially on the road, have the Blue Jackets fallen behind early, lost their gumption and simply played out the rest of the game?

Not this time. The Blue Jackets made it 2-1 with a Mateychuk power-play goal midway through the first, then pulled even only 1:28 into the second when Monahan scored his first goal to make it 2-2.

Brendan Dillon has left tonight’s game after a scary moment during a fight with Dmitri Voronkov pic.twitter.com/n67Ui10pNG

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 2, 2025

By that point, the game had descended into chaos.

The matchup was marred by four second-period fights, including two by Blue Jackets forward Dmitri Voronkov and one each by center Adam Fantilli and defenseman Brendan Smith, who just joined the club last week.

It started after a net-front scrum, when Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon, who was celebrating his 1,000th NHL game, decided to get physical with Voronkov. Not a wise decision. Voronkov landed two thunderous uppercuts, and Dillon crumpled face-first to the ice, forcing him temporarily out of the game.

The Devils were not happy that Dillon, with family and friends in the crowd to celebrate his milestone, was ceremoniously dumped, and the game spiraled from there.

New Jersey forward Connor Brown tried to entice Werenski into a fight with a slash and cross-check. Werenski was too smart to take the bait — that’s not a fair trade for the Blue Jackets — but Fantilli stepped forward to fight New Jersey’s Jonas Siegenthaler, thinking he was the guy taunting Werenski.

It was Fantilli’s first career fight.

“I saw someone going after Z (Werenski), so I tried to get in there,” Fantilli said. “It ended up not even being that guy, so whatever. It happens.

“That was not the start we wanted in the first. We came into (the dressing room) and we were like, ‘We’re not being physical enough.’ And maybe we went to turn the dial up and broke it right off, but that was a great second period. Love how we stuck together. It was awesome.”

That was the second challenge, all the more impressive because the Blue Jackets are playing with forward Mathieu Olivier and defenseman Erik Gudbranson, two of the NHL’s toughest fighters.

“This is our group,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “That’s our group. That’s how we play. And I hope that just because we got into a few fights tonight that it doesn’t look abnormal to you, because we work our asses off every night.

“Maybe we haven’t gotten rewarded as of late, and 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.”

The game mostly settled down in the third period. The Blue Jackets scored twice in a 34-second stretch — Coyle scored at 6:40 to make it 3-2, and Monahan added his second goal on a power-play at 7:14 — to create the third challenge for Columbus.

The Blue Jackets’ inability to close out a lead has threatened to derail this season. But they finally got through it on Monday, perhaps due to the adrenaline coursing through their veins from the second period.

The Devils cut the lead to 4-3 on a Timo Meier power-play goal at 11:51 of the third, but the Blue Jackets just kept on playing. In fact, they carried play most of the way until New Jersey pulled goaltender Jake Allen for an extra skater with just under five minutes remaining.

Woody’s feeling right at home! 😏

CBJ x @FanaticsBook pic.twitter.com/3gcSi6iffC

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) December 2, 2025

Wood’s goal at 13:31 made it 5-3. Coyle started that play by forcing a turnover deep in the Devils’ zone and feeding Wood in the slot.

Who knows where the Blue Jackets’ season goes from here? But a game like this can have a galvanizing effect on a club, especially one that’s been sputtering and struggling for results.

By the way, the Blue Jackets host New Jersey on New Year’s Eve in Nationwide Arena.

“We haven’t got two points for a bit, and so any time you can do that, in a game like this, against a team like that, yeah, it’s a good confidence builder for us,” Evason said.