Sometimes in hockey, you outplay a team and deserve a win only to see the result go against you.
Other times, you sneak away with a victory despite being outplayed.
The latter was the case for the Blue Jackets on Thursday night in Nationwide Arena. New Jersey kept applying more and more pressure but Columbus battened down the hatches and never broke, escaping with a 4-2 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Devils.
New Jersey had big advantages in shot attempts (97-43), shots on goal (42-20) and high-danger chances (21-7) per Natural Stat Trick, but the Blue Jackets ended a five-game losing skid with a much-needed win.
Don’t expect Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason to apologize for the two points.
“What goes around comes around,” he said, referencing that it all comes out in the wash – sometimes you escape with a victory, but the opposite fate can often happen as well.
Still, Evason acknowledges the Blue Jackets absorbed a ton of pressure, largely to be saved by a season-high 40 saves from goalie Elvis Merzlikins. It started as a relatively even game, but the Devils put the screws to Columbus as they tried to rally from a 3-0 hole after goals from Ivan Provorov, Zach Werenski and Sean Monahan.
The third period was most lopsided as the talented Devils staged a furious tally, and Evason can both tip his hat and acknowledge that while the Blue Jackets brought the effort and desire, they can play a more complete game.
“We gave up way too much,” Evason said. “Having said that, that’s a pretty special offensive team. Elvis made some incredible saves to not only hold us in the game but to hold our momentum. He didn’t allow us to sag. We did block 25 shots or something, which clearly tells us that we were committed to trying to keep the puck away from the net and clearly out of the net. So it was a little bit of both. We could have cleaned up some areas, but give credit to them, too.”
In the end, it goes down as a win for the Blue Jackets, and there were plenty of positives. Many will remember the panic defending the last few minutes after New Jersey pulled its goalie with more than five minutes left, but Columbus had strong stretches, converted its chances, won the special teams battle and was committed to team defending.
“I just thought we competed hard,” Monahan said. “Elvis made huge stops; we gained momentum on that. Special teams, too, played a good part. Guys stepped up, blocked shots, and when we needed to find a way to win, we did.”
Columbus hopes to bring that simple style of game and effort into Philadelphia tonight as it looks to make it two wins in a row.
“I felt like this was a huge game for us, and it’s nice to get two points,” Werenski said after the win. “There’s a couple more before the (holiday) break, so hopefully we should play this way and see what happens.”
Know The Foe: Philadelphia Flyers
Head coach: John Tortorella (Third season)
Team stats: Goals per game: 2.94 (20th) | Scoring defense: 3.55 (29th) | PP: 16.1 percent (26th) | PK: 80.0 percent (14th)
The narrative: It’s year three of the Tortorella era, and the fiery former Blue Jackets coach seems to have the Flyers on the right track. It hasn’t yet ended with a playoff berth – the team came agonizingly close a season ago but faltered late to miss the postseason for the fourth straight year – but Tortorella has the team back in the mix this season after a slow start. The Flyers are depending largely on young players, so there are inconsistencies, but they’re a tough out.
Team leaders: Travis Konecny has blossomed into one of the league’s moe consistent goal scorers, posting 30-plus tallies each of the past two years and staying on pace to do it again this year with team-best totals of 16 goals and 37 points. The Team Canada wing is also a CBJ killer, posting 17 goals in 27 career games against the Blue Jackets. Then there’s rookie sensation Matvei Michkov, who is firmly in the Calder Trophy mix with an 11-16-27 line that places him atop all NHL first-year players in points. Defenseman Travis Sanheim (6-14-20) will join Konecny on Canada’s roster at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
It's been a scramble in net at times, with Samuel Ersson starting 15 games, Ivan Fedotov getting 10 starts and Aleksei Kolosov getting the nod nine times. Ersson has the best numbers on the squad with a 3.03 GAA and .884 save percentage despite missing nearly a month with a lower body injury; he has a .828 save percentage in four games since returning.
What's new: Philadelphia got off to a tough 1-5-1 start the season, righted the ship some, and then has slumped to a 2-5-1 record in the last eight games. The addition of Michkov, the No. 8 overall selection in the 2023 draft, has brought in a much-needed impact player up front, and the Flyers are also skating such youngsters as forwards Bobby Brink (age 23), Joel Farabee (24) and Tyson Foerster (22) as well as 22-year-old defensemen Emil Andrae, Jamie Drysdale and Helge Grans.
Trending: The teams split last year’s four-game series, while Philadelphia opened this year’s slate Dec. 10 with a 5-3 win in Nationwide Arena.
Former CBJ: There are no former CBJ players on the roster, but Tortorella and assistant Brad Shaw spent six seasons with the Blue Jackets and led the team to four playoff berths.
