Home opener spoiled.
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CBJ GOALS: |
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Dawson Mercer scored twice as the New Jersey Devils held on to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Monday night at Nationwide Arena.
Timo Meier scored a power-play goal. Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov provided the offense for Columbus.
Jake Allen started in goal for the Devils and stopped 23 of 24 shots before leaving the game after the second period due to cramping. Jacob Markstrom made eight saves in relief.
Jet Greaves made his second start, stopping 25 of 27 shots.
Going back to last Thursday night's opener at the Nashville Predators, Columbus had allowed seven straight goals while shorthanded. That includes four power play goals by the Minnesota Wild in Saturday's 7-4 win.
Jake Christiansen made his season debut in place of Erik Gudbranson, who left Saturday's game in Minnesota with an upper-body injury. Miles Wood left Monday's game in the first period and did not return after being struck by a high stick, resulting in a four-minute power play for Columbus.
With #CBJ defenseman Erik Gudbranson out for this game, Sean Monahan is wearing an "A" tonight.
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) October 13, 2025
Here's how this one went down for the Blue Jackets in the home opener.
1st Period:
(15:47 — NJD Goal): Meier scored with one second remaining on the power play to give the Devils the 1-0 lead. Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt picked up the assists. Bratt now has 299 career assists.
Tick, Tick BOOM!#NJDevils | @Mikes_Amazing pic.twitter.com/20hCb255J6
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) October 13, 2025
Columbus held a 19-8 shots on goal advantage through the opening frame.
2nd Period:
(8:49 — CBJ Goal): Marchenko tied the game 1-1 when he scored all alone on an unassisted breakaway for his fourth goal in two games.
the fourth in two games for Marchenko. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/o86cfAA2Gp
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) October 14, 2025
(11:09 — NJD Goal): Mercer scored the second consecutive power-play goal for New Jersey as Arseny Gritsyuk and Ondrej Palat assisted on the play.
Who knew Dawgs like Grits with a little sauce. #NJDevils | @Mikes_Amazing pic.twitter.com/PphWecMNX1
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) October 14, 2025
The shots on goal through 40 minutes were 24-19 in favor of Columbus.
3rd Period:
With Markstrom in the net for New Jersey for the third period, he was flawless until inside the final minute of play.
(19:03 — NJD Goal): Mercer's second goal came with the empty net (Assists: Nico Hischier, Brenden Dillon).
(19:39 — CBJ Goal): Voronkov scored his second goal of the season (Assist: Ivan Provorov) to cut the deficit to one, and that's how this one ended up.
Kept fighting to the end!
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) October 14, 2025
CBJ x @FanaticsBook pic.twitter.com/nc647gzQBC
| NJD | GAME STATS | CBJ |
|---|---|---|
| 28 | SHOTS | 33 |
| 29 | FACEOFFS | 38 |
| 2/2 | POWER PLAY | 0/5 |
| 5/5 | PENALTY KILL | 0/2 |
| 15 | HITS | 18 |
| 19 | GIVEAWAYS | 21 |
| 5 | TAKEAWAYS | 3 |
| 19 | BLOCKED SHOTS | 12 |
| ALL SITUATIONS ADVANCED STATS | ||
| 2.88 | EXPECTED GOALS | 3.82 |
| 56 | SHOT ATTEMPTS | 71 |
| 23 | SCORING CHANCES | 34 |
| 10 | HIGH-DANGER CHANCES | 11 |
| Data via NHL.com & NaturalStatTrick.com | ||
Stat Chat:
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Zach Werenski led the game with seven shots on net. Marchenko was second with five shots.
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The empty-net goal by New Jersey stopped a string of seven straight goals surrendered by Columbus while shorthanded. The Jackets have allowed one 5v5 goal this season, going back to the very first goal scored by Michael Bunting in the first period in Nashville.
- Columbus is 1-for-9 on the power play this season after going 0-for-5 on Monday. The penalty kill is 7-for-14.
Up Next:
Columbus continues their three-game home stand on Thursday against the Colorado Avalanche at Nationwide Arena.
