New Jersey Devils Gameday Preview: Hosting the Blue Jackets for Dillon’s 1000th Game – The Hockey Writers –
On Monday, Dec. 1, the New Jersey Devils are preparing to host the Columbus Blue Jackets for their second matchup of the season. The Devils lost their first regular-season home game to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. The Devils are certainly going to try their best to not have a repeat of those events tonight.
Related: Devils’ Brenden Dillon Set to Skate in 1,000th NHL Game
The Blue Jackets are currently on a four-game losing streak, losing their latest to the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime at Nationwide Arena. This game is just a one-off road game for Columbus before they head home again. The Blue Jackets will want to return home in high spirits, so they will definitely be on their A-game tonight.
The Devils and the Blue Jackets faced off at Nationwide Arena earlier this season on Oct. 13. The Devils pulled out a 3-2 win to go up 1-0 in the season series.
Devils Storylines
The biggest headline of tonight’s contest is that it is Brenden Dillon’s 1000th career NHL game. He has played with five different teams, but his last two seasons have been with the Devils. Any milestone moment is huge, but this takes on another level. Congratulations to Dillon for his 1000th-career NHL game!
For his 1000th-carer game, Dillon will have a new defense partner. Dennis Cholowski will no longer be a scratch and will slot into the third defensive pairing alongside him, while Colton White will be scratched tonight. Cholowski has played in 10 games this season and has recorded one assist. He’ll try to make a strong impact tonight to make sure he remains in the lineup.
The player to watch in this game is, of course, Dillon. He has been a pillar to the Devils’ defense, especially with Brett Pesce still out of the lineup. This is a great time for his 1000th-career game, since he will be able to celebrate at the Devils’ Prudential Center home. He has recorded nine points this season; it would be a great day to increase that total.
Team Stats
New Jersey Devils
Season Record: 16-8-1
Top Scorers:
- Jesper Bratt – 5 goals (G), 19 assists (A), 24 points (P)
- Nico Hischier – 9 G, 14 A, 23 P
- Timo Meier – 9 G, 12 A, 21 P
- Jack Hughes – 10 G, 10 A, 20 P
- Dawson Mercer – 10 G, 10 A, 20 P
Goalie Stats:
- Jake Allen – 8-4-0, 2.27 goals-against average (GAA), .919 save percentage (SV%)
- Jacob Markstrom – 7-4-1, 3.60 GAA, .874 SV%
- Nico Daws – 1-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .968 SV%
Columbus Blue Jackets
Season Record: 11-9-5
Top Scorers:
- Zach Werenski – 9 G, 15 A, 24 P
- Kirill Marchenko – 8 G, 14 A, 22 P
- Dmitri Voronkov – 9 G, 9 A, 18 P
- Adam Fantilli – 9 G, 8 A, 17 P
- Charlie Coyle – 3 G, 12 A, 15 P
Goalie Stats:
- Jet Greaves – 7-4-5, 2.81 GAA, .901 SV%
- Elvis Merzlikins – 4-5-0, 3.55 GAA, .894 SV%
Projected Lineups
(Subject to change before puck drop)
As per The Hockey Writers’ projected lineup article.
New Jersey Devils
Timo Meier — Nico Hischier — Jesper Bratt
Ondrej Palat — Dawson Mercer — Arseni Gritsyuk
Paul Cotter — Cody Glass — Connor Brown
Juho Lammikko — Luke Glendening — Stefan Noesen
Jonas Siegenthaler — Dougie Hamilton
Luke Hughes — Simon Nemec
Brenden Dillon — Dennis Cholowski
Jake Allen
Jacob Markstrom
Scratched: Colton White
Injured: Evgenii Dadonov, Jack Hughes, Johnathan Kovacevic, Zack MacEwen, Marc McLaughlin, Brett Pesce
Columbus Blue Jackets
Luca Pinelli — Sean Monahan — Cole Sillinger
Dmitri Voronkov — Adam Fantilli — Kent Johnson
Miles Wood — Charlie Coyle — Isac Lundestrom
Zachary Aston-Reese — Brendan Gaunce — Yegor Chinakov
Zach Werenski — Ivan Provorov
Denton Mateychuk — Damon Severson
Brendan Smith — Dante Fabbro
Jet Greaves
Elvis Merzlikins
Scratched: Jake Christiansen
Injured: Kirill Marchenko, Mathieu Olivier, Boone Jenner, Luca Marrelli, Erik Gudbranson
Next Up for the Devils
The Devils will remain at home and will host the Stars on Wednesday, Dec. 3.
