| NJ | CBJ | |
|---|---|---|
| 10-10-0 | ROAD / HOME | 8-6-3 |
| 2.64 | GOALS FOR | 2.95 |
| 3.03 | GOALS AGAINST | 3.34 |
| 20.6% | POWER PLAY | 19.2% |
| 75.7% | PENALTY KILL | 75.7% |
| 29.6 | SHOTS FOR | 30.1 |
| 28.7 | SHOTS AGAINST | 30.6 |
| 49.8% | FACEOFFS | 50.9% |
| OTTAWA: LAST THREE GAMES | ||
| TUE, 12/23 | @ Islanders | L, 2-1 |
| SAT, 12/27 | vs. Capitals | OTL, 4-3 |
| TUE, 12/30 | @ Maple Leafs | L, 4-0 |
| OTTAWA: TEAM LEADERS | ||
| GOALS |
Jack Hughes Timo Meier |
11 |
| ASSISTS | Jesper Bratt | 23 |
| POINTS | Jesper Bratt | 31 |
| ODDS & PROJECTIONS | ||
| CBJ WIN PER MONEYPUCK: | 56% | |
| CBJ ODDS PER DRAFTKINGS: | -120 | |
A three-game winning streak is on the line Wednesday night when the Columbus Blue Jackets and New Jersey Devils meet for the third time this season.
The Blue Jackets have won three in a row for just the second time this season and can match a season-high four game streak with two points in the New Year's Eve battle.
Here are five things to know before the 7:00 p.m. puck-drop:
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The Devils come into this game on a four-game losing streak (0-3-1), including a 4-0 shutout loss Tuesday night in Toronto to the Maple Leafs. After the game, which involved captain Nico Hischier dropping the gloves, head coach Sheldon Keefe challenged his team. "Do I want our captain and one of our best players fighting when we’re down 2-0 in the third period? Absolutely not," said Keefe. "But do we need some guys to step up to show some emotion and show some balls and play with some urgency and competitiveness and step out of character. Yeah, we need more of that."
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To that end, the last meeting between the Devils and Blue Jackets featured plenty of emotion. There were four fights in a span of 8:33 in the second period of the December 1st meeting, a 5-3 Blue Jackets victory. Mathieu Olivier missed that game with an upper-body injury, but he's in the lineup Wednesday and there's little doubt he'll remember missing out the first time around.
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Jet Greaves will start and he's been great as of late. The young netminder has allowed just four goals in his last three starts combined and has allowed three goals or less in all nine games he's played in the month of December. For the season, Greaves goals against average is down to 2.60 and his save percentage is up to .909.
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With a four-for-four effort Monday night, the Blue Jackets penalty kill has now killed off 14 straight over their last four games. After spending much of the season ranked last in the league on the PK, they're now out of the basement and tied for 28th. Baby steps.
- Dysin Mayo will make his season debut for the Blue Jackets, in for the injured Brendan Smith. He'll be on the third pairing opposite of Jake Christansen. No changes are expected to the forward groupings. Zach Werenski and Sean Monahan both remain out of the lineup, but both are expected back soon. Here are the complete projections:
| LW | C | RW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Mason Marchment | 19 | Adam Fantilli | 86 | Kirill Marchenko |
| 10 | Dmitri Voronkov | 4 | Cole Sillinger | 11 | Miles Wood |
| 38 | Boone Jenner | 3 | Charlie Coyle | 24 | Mathieu Olivier |
| 27 | Zach Aston-Reese | 16 | Brendan Gaunce | 91 | Kent Johnson |
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Denton Mateychuk | 78 | Damon Severson |
| 9 | Ivan Provorov | 15 | Dante Fabbro |
| 2 | Jake Christiansen | 37 | Dysin Mayo |
| Starting Goalie | Back-Up | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 73 | Jet Greaves | 90 | Elvis Merzlikins |
