The Blue Jackets have shown this year that they are a team that can gain the advantage on an opponent through their hard work or through their skill. Sunday night, goals of each kind, coupled with exceptional goaltending, gave the Jackets (41-17-6) a 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 20 shots he faced for the team’s sixth shutout of the season. It is the first time in franchise history that the Jackets have shutout the Devils and the first time in Bobrovsky’s career he’s posted back-to-back shutouts.
The first period was a sleepy one, but in the second, Cam Atkinson fired a shot from the bottom of the right circle into a crowd in front of the net. Boone Jenner was able to get his stick on it and tap the puck past Corey Schneider to make it 1-0. Atkinson and Brandon Dubinsky earned the assists on the goal giving Dubinsky 400 points in his NHL career (138-262-400).
Just under three minutes later, Oliver Bjorkstrand earned the team the 2-0 lead. Sam Gagner added a third goal halfway through the third period to make it 3-0 off the rebound of a Scott Hartnell shot. It was Gagner’s second goal in as many games.
“We played within our structure,” head coach John Tortorella said. “That’s a back-to-back game by both teams there. It was slogging around but I liked our structure. That’s the most important thing in those types of game is making sure you’re playing well away from the puck, and keeping it as simple as you can.”
Josh Anderson left the game in the second with a lower body injury and did not return.
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