Blue Jackets at Devils
The Columbus Blue Jackets go after their third shutout in the series this month when they visit the struggling New Jersey Devils on Sunday afternoon. The Blue Jackets, who are in the middle of a three-way battle for first place in the Metropolitan Division with Pittsburgh and Washington, blanked New Jersey 3-0 on March 5 and 2-0 two days later, and boast points in 10 of their last 12 games (9-2-1) overall.
Sergei Bobrovsky, who turned aside 53 shots in the back-to-back shutouts for Columbus, is likely to be in net after resting during Saturday’s 3-2 overtime win at the New York Islanders. Cam Atkinson recorded his seventh game-winning goal Saturday and the 27-year-old right wing tops the team with a career-high 33 which puts him four behind league-leaders Sidney Crosby and Brad Marchand. The Devils snapped a 10-game winless streak Thursday, but fell 6-4 at Pittsburgh on Friday and are 1-9-2 in their past 12 contests with five of the next six slated at home. Kyle Palmieri boasts five goals in the last three contests and fellow forward Taylor Hall owns a four-game point streak for New Jersey.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Columbus), MSG Plus (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (46-18-6): While Atkinson leads the team in scoring with 60 points, rookie defenseman Zach Werenski continues to make a case for consideration in the Calder Trophy race. The 19-year-old Werenski recorded two goals and five assists during his five-game point streak and is fifth on the team with 46 points while fellow blue liner Seth Jones boasts 39. Bobrovsky leads the league with 38 victories and is near the top in goals-against average (2.06) and save percentage (.930) after allowing 10 goals in his last eight games - three of them shutouts.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (26-32-12): Palmieri got off to a slow start this season, but a second-half push has him only five goals from matching his career-high of 30 set in 2015-16. “It would be awesome to get back there,” Palmieri told reporters. “I owe a lot to (Hall) and (Travis Zajac) and other teammates for setting me up with some easy ones that help you rack them up. There wasn’t a number I was looking for. I want to try to get better every year.” Palmieri leads the team with 48 points - one better than Hall, who has three goals and two assists during his streak, and seven clear of Zajac.
OVERTIME
1. New Jersey F Miles Wood (eight goals, 16 points) suffered an undisclosed injury against Pittsburgh and is questionable for Saturday.
2. Columbus D Jack Johnson, who boasts a plus-17 rating this season, is slated to play his 700th NHL game Sunday.
3. Devils F Adam Henrique, who owns two goals and two assists in the last three contests, played every game this season.