The Columbus Blue Jackets will try to salvage a split of their four-game road trip when they visit the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday in Newark, N.J.
The Blue Jackets enjoyed a four-game winning streak before beginning their trek by dropping a pair of lopsided decisions in the Sunshine State. Columbus regained its footing on Sunday with a decisive 7-3 romp over the New York Rangers.
Adam Fantilli recorded his second hat trick of the season to boost his goal total to 10 in his last 16 games.
“I’m feeling confident,” Fantilli said. “I’ve said it so many times before that I’ve gotten to watch some pretty amazing centermen and I had to learn just how to chill out and slow down in my D-zone. I think that’s helped produce offense in a weird way. The better you are there, the less time you spend there and the quicker you can get in the O-zone.
“A lot of credit to Sean Monahan and Boone Jenner. I’ve been playing behind them for a long time. It (stinks) the way I was able to get this opportunity but I’m very grateful to have it.”
Fantilli’s opportunity came at the expense of Monahan, who has been sidelined by a wrist injury. Monahan scored two goals and defenseman Zach Werenski also tallied in Columbus’ 4-2 victory over New Jersey on Dec. 19.
Speaking of Werenski, he set up a pair of goals to lift his career assist total to 260 and move past Rick Nash for the franchise record.
“I mean, it’s cool,” Werenski said of the record. “… I haven’t really thought about (the record), to be honest. I’m just trying to enjoy the year, enjoy the moment, enjoy the spot we’re in as a team and just keep going and playing my game.
“It’s one of those things where I don’t really care, as bad as it might sound. I just want to keep helping this team win.”
New Jersey snapped a three-game losing skid with a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday afternoon.
Erik Haula collected a goal and an assist and Cody Glass scored in his team debut, two days after he was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“It felt good,” Glass said. “Helps having ‘Hauls’ on my line, and then (Daniel) Sprong is kind of going through the same thing as me. Hauls has done a great job of making me feel a little bit comfortable. It’s a lot of systems, a lot of stuff that I’ve been thinking about on the ice. So, once I get the thinking out of the game, hopefully I feel a little bit more comfortable out there.”
Sprong, who was acquired from the Seattle Kraken, showed promise in his Devils’ debut. He registered three shots on goal in 11:24 of ice time.
“They’re opportunistic. That’s what you like,” Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe said of the line of Haula, Sprong and Glass. “(Glass) gets a chance and shot it into the net.”
Defenseman Luke Hughes set up a goal on Sunday, giving him seven assists in his last seven games. He scored and set up a goal in the previous encounter versus Columbus.
–Field Level Media
