Blue Jackets breakdown: New Jersey Devils dominate with 7-1 blowout

NEWARK, N.J. — More pressing for the Blue Jackets than a three-game losing streak and an ugly 7-1 blowout loss Sunday to the New Jersey Devils is fixing the causes of those maladies.

That’s the challenge now for coach Brad Larsen, his staff and every player headed to Finland to face the Colorado Avalanche on Friday and Saturday in an NHL Global Series matchup.

“That was ugly,” Larsen said after Sunday's shellacking. “Really ugly. There’s no cliches here. We’ve got to get back to the root of this team here and that’s my job. This is solely on me. … this is my responsibility. I own this and we’re going to find a way out of this.”

Columbus, which lost its two previous games at home to the Arizona Coyotes and Boston Bruins, was never in the game. The Devils (6-3-0) dominated puck possession, shots and scoring chances, finishing with a gigantic 53-21 edge in shots. The Devils forced Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins to make numerous difficult saves to keep it only 1-0 after the first period and broke the door down against him with three goals in the second and three more in the third.

Yegor Chinakhov scored the lone goal for the Blue Jackets (3-7-0). Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier had a goal and assist each to lead New Jersey, which had seven different goal scorers.

Here’s a breakdown:

Columbus Blue Jackets vs New Jersey Devils: key moments

— Merzlikins stood on his head in the crease to keep it 0-0 most of the first, but New Jersey finally cracked through on Fabian Zetterlund’s goal with 2:50 left. After forcing a turnover in the neutral zone, Hischier carried back into the Blue Jackets’ zone and wound up zipping a feed to Zetterlund for a one-timer from the slot that beat Merzlikins under the crossbar.

— About four minutes before Zetterlund scored, Merzlikins pulled off a dazzling sequence with three saves in three seconds, including a diving glove save at the right post to deny what looked like a sure goal by Tomas Tatar with a wrist shot. It was the fourth stop in a series of five straight saves for Merzlikins, who was under duress the whole game.

— The lone bright spot in the first two periods for the Blue Jackets was produced by the “kid’ line of Chinakhov, Cole Sillinger and Kent Johnson. Chinakhov scored his second goal of the year after Johnson swiped the puck at the right point and slid it to Sillinger for a feed to Chinakhov. Chinakhov now has six points and is second on the team in scoring, behind only Johnny Gaudreau's 5-3-8.

Columbus Blue Jackets vs New Jersey Devils notes

— Larsen tweaked the Blue Jackets' lineup by making Eric Robinson a healthy scratch for the first time. Robinson, who’s from Bellmawr, New Jersey and played collegiately at Princeton, was replaced on the fourth line by Mathieu Olivier.

— Robinson being scratched allowed for Olivier’s return from being a healthy scratch in the Jackets’ 4-0 loss Friday to the Boston Bruins and kept Liam Foudy in the lineup for a second straight game. Foudy and Olivier were wingers on the fourth line, which is centered by Sean Kuraly.

— The Blue Jackets left for Helsinki, Finland on Sunday night. They’re scheduled to spend four days in Helsinki, including two practices, before heading to Patrik Laine's hometown of Tampere for back-to-back games Friday and Saturday against the Avalanche.

— The three defensemen who scored for the Devils Sunday hadn't scored a goal in a combined 136 games. John Marino hadn't scored one since Oct. 19, 2021 for the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Dallas Stars (85 games). Ryan Graves hadn't scored one since Mar. 22, 2022 against the New York Rangers (25 games). Jonas Siegenthaler hadn't scored one since Feb. 25, 2022 at the Chicago Blackhawks (26 games). Siegenthaler's goal in Chicago had ended a 94-game dry spell.

Quotable: Columbus Blue Jackets vs New Jersey Devils

“I’m not going to get into that right now. There’s things that we need to address and we will address.”

— Larsen, when asked was the first step would be to the Jackets escaping this rut.

“Obviously, it’s on the players. We have to be more competitive. I just felt like tonight there was no compete on the ice and we’ve got to work for one another. It’s one of those things where ... when times get tough and you get frustrated, you go through these losing streaks and guys try to do it on their own. This is a league you can’t do that.”

— Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski

“It sucks. A lot of family, friends getting to watch us and we only come here twice a year, so I tried to make the most of it. … obviously, it’s a lull for us right now, but we’ve got to get together as a team and fight through this.”

— Gaudreau, who’s from Salem, New Jersey.

“It wasn’t good enough, right from our battle level to execution, and that team fed it to us. It’s us. We take ownership of that and we’ve got to be better.”

— Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner

Columbus Blue Jackets vs New Jersey Devils: analysis

This was one of the most lopsided losses in recent memory for the Blue Jackets, who’ve had a number of them the past three years. The Devils seized control from the opening puck drop and never took their foot off the gas pedal. Columbus, meanwhile, left Merzlikins out to dry with one of the Jackets’ poorest defensive efforts in a long time.

Here’s a look at the statistical breakdown via Natural Stat Trick:

Shots: Devils 53, Blue Jackets 21 (71.6%)

Shot attempts: Devils 93, Blue Jackets 39 (70.5%)

Scoring chances: Devils 46, Blue Jackets 9 (83.6%)

High-danger chances: Devils 23, Blue Jackets 1 (95.8%)

Expected goals: Devils 5.87, Blue Jackets 0.84 (87.5%)

Power plays: Devils 1/3, Blue Jackets 0/2

Faceoffs: Devils 36/65 (55%), Blue Jackets 29/65 (45%)

Hits: Blue Jackets 27, Devils 13

Blocked shots: Blue Jackets 21, Devils 12

Up next for the Columbus Blue Jackets

It’s off to Finland for the Blue Jackets, who face the powerhouse Avalanche in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday in Tampere, Finland. Columbus swept Colorado in a road/home back-to-back last season, which is the last time the two played each other.

bhedger@dispatch.com

@BrianHedger

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets flattened by New Jersey Devils