COLUMBUS, Ohio — This was another forgettable night in a forgettable season for the New Jersey Devils.
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice in the first-period, Joonas Korpisalo stopped 21 shots and the Columbus Blue Jackets cruised to a 5-1 win over the Devils on Saturday night.
Vladislav Gavrikov, Zach Werenski and Gustav Nyquist also scored for Blue Jackets, who won their fourth straight despite being ravaged by injuries. They have earned at least one point in a season-high seven consecutive games (5-0-2).
Will Butcher scored for the Devils and Gilles Senn, starting his first NHL game, made 34 saves. The Devils lost their second game in two nights after falling to Washington 6-3 on Friday.
“We don’t have an attacking mentality enough,” Devils coach Alaine Nasreddine said. “To score goals in this league you have to be hungry, you’ve got to be willing to get to the net, you’ve got to be able to get to the hard areas. Tonight some guys had it and some guys didn’t. We just didn’t generate enough.”
The Devils have lost five of seven and are in last place in the Metropolitan Division, 11 points behind seventh-place Columbus.
It took just 26 seconds for the Blue Jackets to beat the Devils’ rookie goaltender. Bjorkstrand got a pass off the wall from Boone Jenner and connected with a one-timer from the high slot for his 11th goal of the season.
Bjorkstrand got his second of the game at 8:06 of the first period when Pierre-Luc Dubois fed him in the slot. The two goals came on the Blue Jackets’ first three shots.
Bjorkstrand has five goals and two assists in a four-game point streak.
Butcher’s first goal in 13 games made it 2-1 later in the period. He banged one past Korpisalo from the left circle during 4-on-4 play.
Gavrikov snapped a shot past Senn’s blocker with 6:47 left in the second to make it 3-1.
Werenski added a short-handed, empty-net goal with 2:52 remaining in the game, and Gustav Nyquist matched it with 1:12 left to complete the scoring.
Jenner and Seth Jones both had two assists for Columbus.
The Blue Jackets are winning despite a crowded trainer’s room. On Saturday they had at least nine players out due to injury or illness, causing coach John Tortorella to put together lines consisting of veterans and players who started the season in the minors.
