The New Jersey Devils wrap up a three-game season-opening road trip when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night.
The Devils split the first two games, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in their opener before posting a 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
Columbus plays its first home game after losing 2-1 in Nashville before beating the Minnesota Wild 7-4 on Saturday.
Connor Brown, who signed a four-year contract with New Jersey in July after playing the last two seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, scored twice for the Devils against the Lightning.
“It’s obviously nice to contribute early in the season,” Brown said. “I thought it was two great plays by (teammate Arseni Gritsyuk). I thought we had good chemistry…me, him and (teammate Cody Glass), so it was a fun night.”
Nico Hischier and Timo Meier each had a goal and an assist, while Luke Hughes and Gritsyuk each had two assists for the Devils. Jacob Markstrom made 14 saves. Hughes had four assists in two games.
New Jersey took a 3-0 lead and held off a Tampa Bay rally that cut it to 3-2.
“Really good start, good effort from our guys to take control of the game and you know Tampa is going to get their looks and have a push,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. “The way we came out in the third period… there’s so many things that could have gone really wrong for us today. The guys just dug in.”
New Jersey played without forward Evgenii Dadonov, who suffered a broken hand after blocking a shot in the season opener. He will miss Monday night’s game and will be evaluated once the team returns home.
Meanwhile, Kirill Marchenko scored a hat trick and Elvis Merzlikins made 48 saves for the Blue Jackets against the Wild on Saturday.
Zach Werenski and Boone Jenner each had a goal and two assists. Jenner’s goal was the 200th of his NHL career. Adam Fantilli also had a goal and an assist for Columbus.
“We really liked our composure,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “Maybe I didn’t hold it together as well as the players, but they did a really good job of keeping their composure, certainly early in that hockey game, when we could have pulled away when they scored their first two goals.”
Marchenko, 25, broke a 2-2 tie late in the second period en route to his fourth NHL hat trick.
“I can score more. Just shoot the puck,” Marchenko said. “It’s not really hard work. I just work on my shooting and my partners also make great passes. And I try to do my best.”
Werenski recorded his 80th career multipoint game, just one behind Jenner for third most in Blue Jackets history.
Columbus won despite allowing four goals on eight Minnesota power plays.
The Devils won two of three games against the Blue Jackets last season, including a 2-1 victory in Columbus on March 17.
–Field level media
