Columbus Blue Jackets @ New Jersey Devils: 2022-23 NHL Season Game 10 Recap

Period 1 would not be the greatest for the Columbus Blue Jackets.  At 17:10 F. Zetterlund would score for the Devils.  This would be the only goal of Period 1, leaving it a 1-0 Devils lead.  Their lucky Elvis Merzlikins was more on point than should've been required.  He kept them in this game, case and point for this Period, the shots were 17 for the Devils and just 5 for the Blue Jackets.  We were in our zone far too much.  

Period 2 was a goal for Devils at 3:22, scored by N. Hischier and then at 3:55, another goal would go to the Devils, from R. Graves.  I'll even admit that Elvis Merzlikins probably could've stopped these two, he was fresh off an intermission.  3-0 Devils lead, but the Blue Jackets would get on the board, thanks to Yegor Chinakhov.  Assists would go to Cole Sillinger and Kent Johnson.  One more goal would come for the Devils, before the end of this period.  However, to me it was a bit of a ridiculous situation which resulted in such.  Number 14 of the Devils (N. Bastian) would gain a hooking call, after he tried to use it as the penalty describes, to pull the puck out from Merzlikins who'd sat on the puck, stopping play.  Merzlikins wasn't thrilled with this, as any goaltender wouldn't be, and he made sure Bastian knew this.  For this reason, Merzlikins was given a 2-minute roughing, which made the ice even at a 4 on 4.  This led to the 19:38 goal by J. Marino.  After Period 2 the score would be a 4-1 Devils lead.  

Period 3 would see more of the same, unfortunately.  Another goal for the Devils would give them a 5-1 lead, after a shot from J. Siegenthaler at 3:46.  12:14 would then yield another goal, this time from J. Bartt.  6-1 Devils lead.  14:47 M. Wood, would bolt down to the goal with a bad bounce and shoot his shot, 7-1 Devils.  The domino effect continued harshly today.  This is what happens to a team when things go from bad to worse.  Trust me, frustration makes a team worse and this team is so frustrated they can't even hide it now.    

Again, everyone's blaming Merzlikins in net, but if you look at the shot blocks and shots on goal alone, you'll see the problem is simple: the puck was barely ever out of our zone for the full 60-minute game.  As I said, I'll admit a few of the goals Merzlikins should've had, but when the puck is always in your zone, the defense (who did well today despite the final score) get exhausted.  The offense has to figure things out, today was a mix of lack of scoring and relying on the defense far too much.  I mean, look at these numbers:

The Devils managed 52 shots on our goal.  Merzlikins letting 7 in, regardless of how they got in, that still means he stopped 86.5 % of the shots.  Flip this to the Blue Jackets, who had 1 goal in just 20 shots, which means they scored 5% of all their chances.  

Blocked shots were unreal when it came to our Blue Jackets.  Our defense had to block another 21 shots, compared to just blocking 12 of ours for the Devils.  

I mean, we killed off 2 of the 3 power plays we gave them.   

If anything, going to Finland for the Global Series 2022 could really benefit this team.  They have until Friday to try and figure out where to go from here.  There are still 72 games left this season.  A 4-day break to regroup and fix lines could be the best thing to happen this season, aside from Kent Johnson's first NHL Goal and the Blankenburg spark.  This team needs to find their way, it's really that black and white.  Do I still believe they can?  Yes.  It's November and to be on the world stage in the NHL Global Series 2022 is a big deal, the Blue Jackets know this, and I think they will rise to the opportunity.  

I'll do updates along the week as the team arrives and works in Finland, leading up to Game 1 of the NHL Global Series 2022.  They will face the Colorado Avalanche at 8:00 PM there, but the time will be different here in the states.  I'll give you all the updates as we get closer to puck drop.  

Go CBJ!