*Photo from the Lima News*
One period can be the difference sometimes. Nico Hischier scored, Vitek Vanecek shined in net, and the New Jersey Devils defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 4-1 victory on Friday night in Columbus.
In a battle of the two worst teams record-wise in the Metropolitan Division, it was the Devils who came out on top, ending their two game losing streak to improve to 23-17-3 on the season. 8 different skaters recorded a point for the Devils, with no one having a multi point night.
Columbus got it started in this one. Cole Sillinger scored 4:21 into the game to make it 1-0 on his 8th goal of the season, assisted by Johnny Gaudreau and Yegor Chinakhov. Just 28 seconds into the second period, the Devils tied the score 1-1 thanks to John Marino's 3rd goal of the season, with the lone assist going to Simon Nemec.
Alexander Holtz gave the Devils the lead 8:40 into the second, scoring his 12th goal of the season with Cal Foote and Max Willman getting assists. At the 13:31 mark of the period, Hischier scored unassisted to make it 3-1 Devils. 1:12 after that, Kevin Bahl assisted on Nathan Bastian's 3rd goal of the season, making it a 4-1 win.
Marino said of the team's 4 goal comeback that "We’ve been doing that unfortuantely the whole year. We had a lot of chances in the first, 2-on-1 the first shift, but we just weren’t able to score, but to have that resilience and stick with it too, especially after how we started last game it says a lot."
It was Vanecek who drew the start in net for the Devils, improving his record to 15-7-2 in 24 starts on the season. Vanecek stopped all but one of the 30 shots the Blue Jackets had, good for a strong .967 save percentage.
Hischier said of Vanecek's performance that "First shot on net, we get scored on. But it’s a great shot, a quick release that I don’t there’s a lot to do as a goalie. Vanecek sticks with it, doesn’t let himself get beat a second time the whole game and he made some huge saves, he really played well for us and he was a big reason for us tonight why we won the game."
Getting the start for Columbus on the other end of the ice was Elvis Merzlikins, who took the loss. Merzlikins turned aside 29 out of the 33 shots on goal the Devils sent his way, recording a .879 save percentage. His record is now 8-9-6 through 25 starts.
Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner said of the loss that "We let them back into the game with our mistakes. Our battle and compete level went down a little bit. They ramped it up and they were able to score four. That's what happens in this league, you lose those 1-on-1 battles, they're going to have the puck more. They’re going to have more chances, and that's what hurt us."
The Devils host the Dallas Stars on Saturday night as they finish a back to back, with Nico Daws set to get the start in goal. The Blue Jackets hit the road for a matchup with the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, with Daniil Tarasov expected to start.
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