Jackets grind over win in New Jersey
NEWARK, NJ -- Not every victory in the National Hockey League is a thing of a beauty.
The Columbus Blue Jackets proved that Sunday, skating to a less-then-thrilling, yet effective, 3-0 road win over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center.
Both teams looked weary playing less than 24 hours after losing road contests on Saturday night; but the Blue Jackets (41-17-6) persevered behind a 20-save shutout by Sergei Bobrovsky and two points apiece from Oliver Bjorkstrand and Sam Gagner.
Columbus is now 4-1-1 in its last six games and 6-2-1 in nine, while the Devils (25-28-12) suffered their seventh consecutive defeat.
After a sleepy and scoreless first period in which the teams combined to record only 11 shots on goal, the Blue Jackets struck twice early in the second period to secure a 2-0 lead.
Boone Jenner opened the scoring with his 13th goal at 2:45, muscling an in-tight shot past Devils goalie Cory Schneider; and Bjorkstrand doubled the Columbus lead nearly three minutes later when he took advantage of lax defensive play by the Devils to whistle his third goal into the cage at 5:35.
Gagner, who assisted on Bjorkstrand's goal, buried a rebound at 8:56 of the third period to make it 3-0 Blue Jackets. Bjorkstrand returned the favor by assisting on Gagner's 16th goal of the season.
Bobrovsky earned his fifth shutout of the season, and 17th of his career. While not challenged often, Bobrovsky did make solid consecutive saves on Kyle Stollery and Travis Zajac in the first period, and again on Kyle Palmieri and Taylor Hall in the second.
NOTES: Blue Jackets C Brandon Dubinsky recorded the 400th point of his NHL career by assisting on Boone Jenner's game-opening goal. ... Devils D Dalton Prout and Blue Jackets D Kyle Quincey faced their former teams for the first time since being traded for one another last Wednesday. ... The Devils recalled D Karl Stollery from Albany (AHL) on an emergency basis and activated C Pavel Zacha off IR. ... New Jersey scratched D Andy Greene (personal), LW Michael Cammalleri (upper body), C Jacob Josefson (upper body), D Damon Severson (upper body), and LW Miles Wood (lower body). ... The Blue Jackets scratched D Scott Harrington and D Markus Nutivaara. ... Columbus hosts New Jersey in the back end of this home-and-home set Tuesday night.