CBJ 5, NJ 3: Monahan Scores Twice As Blue Jackets Fight Their Way To Victory Over Devils

By Ed Francis on December 1, 2025 at 10:07 pm
Sean Monahan scored twice and seemingly everyone dropped the gloves in a huge, 5-3 road win for the Columbus Blue Jackets over the New Jersey Devils on Monday night.
© Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images
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  1 2 3 F
CBJ 1 1 3 5
NJ 2 0 1 3

CBJ GOALS: 
Mateychuk (PP) (1st, 9:54)
Monahan (2nd, 1:28)
Coyle (3rd, 6:40)
Monahan (2) (3rd, 7:14)
Wood (3rd, 13:31)

That one had some grit to it.

Sean Monahan scored twice, Charlie Coyle had a three-point night, and the Columbus Blue Jackets dropped the gloves four times in a come-from-behind, 5-3 win over the New Jersey Devils on Monday night.

The game got off to a tough start for the Blue Jackets, who gave up two goals in the opening 3:03 of the game. Denton Mateychuk's power play goal halfway through the first period came at just the right time for Columbus, who went into the dressing room down just a goal after the first frame.

Things got tense just over a minute into the middle frame when Dmitri Voronkov and Brendan Dillon, playing in his 1000th NHL game, fought after a short skirmish in front of the net. Dillon threw the first punch, but Voronkov connected with a pair of rights that dropped Dillon to the ice. He hit his head awkwardly and briefly left the game but would return later in the period.

It was the first of four fights in a span of 8:33 between the two teams, including a second Voronkov bout with Stefan Noesen. 

Adam Fantilli was also one of those fights, picking up the first fighting major of his 157-game NHL career.

A total of 64 penalty minutes were handed out in the second period alone. 

Seconds after the Dillon and Voronkov bout, Sean Monahan would score his first of two goals in the game for the only goal of a wild second frame. 

With the game tied at 2-2 in the third, Coyle would score his fourth goal of the season to give Columbus their first lead of the game. Just 34 seconds later, Monahan's second of the night made it a 4-2 game.

New Jersey would cut it to one on a power play goal, but Miles Wood made it a 5-3 game less than two minutes later to put it out of reach and give the Blue Jackets a huge two points against a divisional rival.

"I love how we stuck together as a team," said Wood. "We didn't back down once tonight, and I think as a whole we took a step as a team and that was great to see."

"We went to turn the dial up and broke it right off," said Fantilli. 

Elvis Merzlikins finished with 30 saves on 33 shots, but stopped 28 of 29 at even strength. New Jersey goalie Jake Allen finished with just 19 saves on 24 shots.

"We work our asses off every night and maybe we haven't got rewarded as of late, (but we) got rewarded tonight with some breaks and some bounces and we stuck together," said head coach Dean Evason.

Here's how the Blue Jackets picked up their most important road win of the season.

1st Period:

(1:26 — NJ Goal): The Devils connect in the first 90 seconds of the game on a power play goal. Nico Hischier shoots from a low angle and the shot deflects off Ivan Provorov's stick and past Merzlikins to put New Jersey up 1-0.

(3:03 — NJ Goal): The Blue Jackets turn it over in their own zone and Ondrej Palat gets a clean shot off from the low slot and through the five-hole of Merzlikins. A second goal in the opening minutes that's not Merzlikins' fault, but a 2-0 Devils lead nonetheless.

(9:54 — CBJ Goal): A much-needed power play goal cuts the lead in half. The Blue Jackets enter the zone, Provorov slides it over from the point to Coyle near the dot, and Coyle throws it into the zone where Mateychuk is able to deflect it past Allen and into the net. 2-1 Devils. 

2nd Period:

(1:01 — First Fight Of A Wild Period): A small squabble in front of the net turns into much more and Dillon gets the worse of it. He throws the first punch Voronkov's way, and Big Boss answers right back with a pair of blows. Dillon hits the ice hard and would briefly leave the game but returned after passing concussion protocols.

(1:28 — CBJ Goal): The Blue Jackets tie it up on an absolute beauty of a goal from Monahan. Werenski heads up the ice and finds Sillinger near center ice. He enters the zone with Monahan, who gets the puck and makes a couple of fancy moves with the stick, beating Allen and tying the game at 2-2.

(9:22 — Another Fight): The third fight of the period and the second one involving Voronkov. Big Boss opts not to take a finishing blow to Stefan Noesen after he twice goes to the ice, but then Noesen gets back up and takes down Voronkov, throwing a couple of blows in along the way. FanDuel Sports Network announcer Jean-Luc Grand Pierre aptly referred to Noesen's move as "gutless" in the second period intermission.

3rd Period:

(6:40 — CBJ Goal): A great individual effort from Wood. He holds the puck just long enough in the Devils zone to let Columbus make a line change, eventually moving the puck to an incoming Werenski. He shoots and Allen lets a juicy rebound go right to Coyle, who picks it up in the low slot and puts it in the back of the net to give the Blue Jackets their first lead of the night, 3-2.

(7:14 — CBJ Goal): Less than a minute after Coyle's goal, Monahan picks up his second of the night to put Columbus up 4-2. He takes the feed from Isac Lundestrom behind the net and roofs a snapper to give the Blue Jackets a two-goal advantage. 

(11:51 — NJ Goal): New Jersey strikes on the power play to cut the Columbus lead to 4-3. Jesper Bratt finds Timo Meier near Merzlikins and Meier puts it away, halving the Blue Jackets lead.

(13:31 — CBJ Goal): Wood comes up clutch when it's needed the most. Provorov dumps the puck in from center ice and Allen stops it, but then gives it away to Coyle on his passing attempt. Coyle sees Wood skate into the slot and feeds him, with Wood banging it off the post and in to again put Columbus up two goals, this time 5-3.

CBJ GAME STATS NJ
24 SHOTS 33
62% FACEOFFS 38%
1/3 POWER PLAY 2/5
3/5 PENALTY KILL 2/3
21 HITS 23
15 GIVEAWAYS 14
7 TAKEAWAYS 5
11 BLOCKED SHOTS 11
ALL SITUATIONS ADVANCED STATS
2.26 EXPECTED GOALS 3.61
42 SHOT ATTEMPTS 64
21 SCORING CHANCES 35
9 HIGH-DANGER CHANCES 12
Data via NHL.com & NaturalStatTrick.com

Stat Chat:

  • Werenski's penalty on his first shift of the game was the first time he's been sent to the box all season. It was 663 minutes, 24 seconds of penalty-free hockey for Z.
     
  • Wood's seventh goal of the season was also his seventh on the road. The former Devil is yet to score in front of his home crowd at Nationwide Arena.
     
  • The Blue Jackets are now 7-6-2 on the road this season. Last season, their seventh road win six weeks later in the schedule: January 22nd.

Up Next:

The Blue Jackets get a couple of days to rest up after this one, and are back it Thursday night when they face the Detroit Red Wings. Puck-drop at Nationwide Arena is 7:30 p.m.

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