Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, the New Jersey Devils (1-4-3) and Columbus Blue Jackets (3-5-0) go face-to-face live from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus. The game can be live streamed here. New Jersey fans can hear all the hard-hitting action on WFAN 101.9 FM while Columbus fans can do the same by tuning their radios to Sportsradio 97.1 FM The Fan
Both of these struggling teams come into their first meeting as division rivals and first of four tilts with each other with a little bit of optimism as the Devils topped the New York Rangers Saturday night for their first win of the season to snap a seven-game season-opening losing streak while the Blue Jackets come in having notched their first home victory with a win over the Vancouver Canucks Sunday. The Devils sit in sixth place with five points in the Metropolitan Division while the Blue Jackets are two spots up on them in fourth with six points.
Cory Schneider and the Devils fifth-ranked penalty kill led the team to their first victory of the season Saturday, and the performance was good enough that Schneider will get the nod to man the crease tonight.
"When we did have a breakdown [Schneider] made some saves for us," captain Bryce Salvador told The Newark Star-Ledger after the 4-0 win Saturday. "Our goaltending is our strength. When you have Marty [Brodeur] and Schneids back there it's a good feeling."
Schneider has a 1-2-1 record with a dazzling 1.99 save percentage and a .927 GAA through four games this season.
The Devils won't have an easy task when they look across to the other crease as reigning Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky looks to get Columbus its second win in a row.
Though his record may not show it, Bobrovsky has had a pretty productive start to the season. He is 2-5-0 with a 2.70 GAA and a .917 save percentage, but hasn't gotten much support in the losses.
Columbus got an emotional boost prior to Sunday's win when Nick Foligno returned to the lineup after missing three games due to his newborn daughter being diagnosed with a heart condition.
"That was first and foremost on my mind," Foligno told The Columbus Dispatch. "The team was great about it and the guys were great about it. They understood that I needed to be home with her to figure out what the next step would be. The good news is that long-term it seems like she's going to be fine."
Marian Gaborik has led the charge for the Blue Jackets by notching team-highs in goals (3), assists (5) and points (8) so far while the Devils have been paced by defenseman Marek Zidlicki who has seven points--all assists while Damien Brunner has a team-high three goals to go with two assists for five points and Jaromir Jagr also has five points off of two tallies and three helpers.
The Devils and Blue Jackets each look for a rare two wins in a row when these two teams go toe-to-toe tonight in Columbus.
© 2023 Sportsworldnews.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
