Panarin gets five assists in Blue Jackets win against Devils

NEWARK, N.J. -- Artemi Panarin had an NHL career-high five assists, and Alex Wennberg and Zach Werenski each scored in the third period to help the Columbus Blue Jackets defeat the New Jersey Devils 5-3 at Prudential Center on Friday.
Pierre-Luc Dubois, Lukas Sedlak and Scott Harrington also scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves for the Blue Jackets (18-10-1). It was the first five-point game in the NHL for Panarin. All were primary assists.

"I'm very happy, but I try to keep my emotions in check because Saturday is another game and I know sometimes you do the same assist and it doesn't result in a goal," Panarin said through an interpreter.
Wennberg gave the Blue Jackets a 4-3 lead when he took a backhand pass from Panarin and scored a power-play goal at 1:32. Columbus finished 1-for-2 on the power play after going 0-for-6 in a 4-1 loss against the Devils on Tuesday.
WATCH: [All Blue Jackets vs. Devils highlights]
Werenski made it 5-3 at 15:02 with the teams skating 4-on-4.
"We didn't start the way we wanted but we played the way we wanted the last two periods," Werenski said. "We came in after the first period and talked about how it just wasn't good enough."
The Devils (16-8-4) took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Brian Boyle and Marcus Johansson. Blake Coleman also scored, and Cory Schneider made 23 saves.

"When I needed to make a save for us I didn't make it," Schneider said. "Give them credit. They corrected what they needed to and played well. I thought we gave them a lot of what they got."
New Jersey was 0-for-4 on the power play and couldn't capitalize on a 4-minute double minor 11:05 into the third period after Markus Hannikainen was called for high sticking Nico Hischier.
"Our power play is struggling right now," forward Taylor Hall said. "Maybe we're gripping our sticks a little bit tight. Our power play was giving us momentum for a long time and we're struggling now."
Dubois, Sedlak and Harrington scored to give the Blue Jackets a 3-2 lead in the second period. Dubois scored his fifth after taking a pass from Panarin, who stole the puck in the right circle at 2:29; Sedlak scored after Panarin knocked down a pass attempt at center ice and fed him in the right circle at 5:44; and Harrington scored from the left circle after taking a pass from Panarin from the opposite circle at 14:13.

"I don't know how he saw some of the guys on those weak-side plays he made but right now he's one of our strongest guys on the puck," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. "I think one of the biggest strengths of his game is his play away from the puck."
Coleman made it 3-3 when he took a pass from Brian Gibbons and beat Bobrovsky on a wrist shot from the slot at 19:40.
Boyle gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 8:29 of the first period off a pass from Jimmy Hayes.
Johansson made it 2-0 at 14:10 when he collected a pass from Stefan Noesen at the left hash and circled behind the Blue Jackets net before tucking the puck on a wraparound inside the right post.
"I thought we started banging [in the second period]," Tortorella said. "We certainly played much better with our reloads as far as having people come across the ice and trying to slow them down through the neutral zone. We made them earn their ice."

Goal of the game

Wennberg's power-play goal 1:32 into the third period.

Save of the game

Bobrovsky stops Damon Severson 5:34 into the third period.

Highlight of the game

Coleman's goal with 19.9 seconds left in the second period.

They said it

"I didn't know who the [heck] Panarin was when he came over from Chicago (in a trade on June 23). I knew he could score, but didn't know what he would be as a player away from the puck. He's a true pro. We moved him into a different spot on the power play. All he says is, 'Yes, I'll do the best I can.' " -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella
"I think we got a little fragile. We gave up a goal and then strayed a bit from our game plan. You can't be as fragile as that. We did come back, but for the most part we didn't play to our system and our structure." -- Devils center Brian Boyle

Need to know

Panarin has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past four games. He is the fifth player in Blue Jackets history to score five points in a game and the first since David Vyborny had one goal and four assists in a 5-4 overtime win against the Colorado Avalanche on Feb. 28, 2004. … Hannikainen returned after missing the past seven games as a healthy scratch. ... Werenski leads NHL defensemen with nine goals.

What's next

Blue Jackets: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV)
Devils: At the New York Rangers on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; MSG 2, MSG+, NHL.TV)