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Before the game the Devils will honor Ken Daneyko for his 40 years with the club.
DEVILS (5-3-0) vs. BLUE JACKETS (3-6-0)
Head-to-Head
The Devils will face the Blue Jackets three times this season. Twice at Prudential Center and once in Columbus, in February. The second visit to Newark for the Blue Jackets will be in April.
Last season, the teams met four times. Columbus won three games, all by a 4-3 score -- two in regulation and one in a shootout. The lone Devils win was at Prudential Center by a score of 3-1.
Jack Hughes led the way for the Devils with two goals and four points against the Jackets.Mackenzie Blackwood played in two of the games and had a 2.54 goals-against average and .924 save percentage.
Jakub Voracek had six points -- all assists -- to lead the Blue Jackets in scoring against New Jersey. Patrik Laine had two goals and three assists for five points.
Devils team scope:
The Devils have now won five of their last six games after starting the season 0-2. Most recently, Friday night's 1-0 win over the defending Cup champion Colorado Avalanche was a strong statement game for the club. Vitek Vanecek's shutout in the contest dropped his goals-against average to 2.40 after a shaky first two starts. In his last three games, Vanecek has a .940 save percentage and 1.29 goals-against average. The GAA is second among goaltenders who have played more than one game in the last 10 days.
Jesper Bratt leads the Devils with 13 points through seven games. He's picked up at least a point in every Devils game this season. Jack Hughes now has two goals in his last two games, including the team's only marker on Friday night.
Blue Jackets team scope:
Columbus has had a rocky start to the season with only three wins in their first nine games. The slow start is despite six of those games being at home. They've dropped their last two games, including 6-3 at home to the Arizona Coyotes who are one of the few teams lower than them in the standings. After today's game, the Blue Jackets head to Finland where they will face the Colorado Avalanche in a pair of games.
Newcomer Johnny Gaudreau leads the way for the Blue Jackets with eight points (five goals) in nine contests. Four players are tied for second with five points, including rookie Kent Johnson.
By the Numbers:
New Jersey is tied for eighth in the NHL with 10 points and fifth in the Eastern Conference, though they are six points behind Boston who has surged out to a 16-point lead. In terms of goals against per game, the Devils have allowed the seventh-fewest at 2.75 owed largely to allowing a league-low 21.8 shots against per game. The next lowest team, Seattle, has allowed 25.8 shots per game. The Devils are also second in the NHL with 37.6 shots for per game.
Columbus has allowed the fifth-most goals per game at 4.11. They have also yet to score a power play goal this season. The Devils, meanwhile, have the fourth-best penalty kill in the NHL at 92.6%. On Friday, they stopped the Avalanche on six power plays including a crucial one in the game's final minute of their 1-0 win. Going into the game, the Avs had a 50% power play efficiency rating (they still lead the League at 38.5%).
Injury Updates:
Devils
Jonathan Bernier (Hip - IR)
Ondrej Palat (Lower body - IR)
Blue Jackets
Jake Bean (Illness - Day-to-Day)
Adam Boqvist (Fractured Foot - IR)
Nick Blankenburg (Upper Body - Day-to-Day)
Justin Danforth (Upper Body - IR)
Joona Luoto (Lower Body - IR)
Joonas Korpisalo (Hip - IR)
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