Ryan Graves Sends Devils Fans Home Happy on Valentine’s Day With Last Moment Goal

1st Period

Roslovic passed to Bemstrom who got behind the defense and Vanecek turned him away

Shots are 4-1 Columbus 3 minutes in

Bratt got a good chance 1 on 1 at the left circle and Merzlikins shut the 5 hole

Sharangovich got the puck in the high slot on a Columbus turnover and fired a wrister over the crossbar. The Devils with a couple good shifts here.

Gudbranson almost put the puck in his own net but was able to get it away from Merzlikins’ skates

Wood went flying into the net with 13:43 left as a Hamilton wrister was held by Merzlikins for a commercial break. The Devils got a power play out of it, Bayreuther for interference. No shots on the power play.

Sharangovich found an errant puck in the Devils zone and fed Haula at the Columbus blue line. It hit a Jacket’s skate but still found its way to Haula, who managed to touch it. Zetterlund came in and took the fed. He fed Sharangovich cross ice at the right dot and he buried it for the first goal of the game. Devils lead, 1-0.

Vanecek poked away a pass from A. Boqvist to stop a good Columbus chance before it happened

Columbus’ top line has the Devils hemmed in with 4-5 minutes left. After 2 minutes of the 4th line out, the Devils finally get it out and change.

Haula was called for tripping with 1:47 left in the first.

The Devils got a couple clears early, but then the Blue Jackets had the Devils stuck in their zone for a while. Laine walked in, Jenner batted the rebound down, and the puck bounced to Gaudreau who tied the game with 1.3 seconds left.

2nd Period

Right off the faceoff, Marino passed to Bratt who walked in all alone and pulled off his move. Devils regain the lead, 2-1.

A Siegenthaler point shot rebounded with Zetterlund poking at it, but Merzlikins got to it first.

Boqvist went 1 on 1 with a defender and Merzlikins made a pad save on his backhander

A. Boqvist knocked a puck out of mid-air and toe drag ripped it top shelf to tie the game again. Off the faceoff Laine got behind the defense and Vanecek made the save.

McLeod fell into Merzlikins and Olivier gave him a couple shoves

Bratt had a chance against Gudbransen. I thought he could’ve gotten past him but he opted for a pass across to Palat that was too far ahead

Laine took a high-sticking penalty against Severson with 11:19 left in the period

It took over a minute for the Devils to get set up. Mercer then fanned on a shot and the Blue Jackets went the other way. Peeke missed the net and Boqvist passed to Haula and Merzlikins made the save, the lone SOG of the power play.

Sharangovich and Bastian forced a couple turnovers in the Columbus zone but nothing came of them

Bratt pulled off a nice move to set up a shot

Shots are 11-5 Devils in the period

Tatar to the box for holding, Columbus to the PP

McLeod won the draw and Haula cleared. Mercer got it out on the next Jackets entry. Marino fed Haula who missed the net.

Marino had the next clear to get it down to 20 seconds on the penalty.

Vanecek awkwardly left it for Bratt, who was unable to pick up the puck. A Blue Jacket stole it and tried to center, but Boqvist’s stick tipped the pass.

Shots 21-19 in favor of NJ

Palat picked Roslovic’s pocket for a Devils odd man rush but Roslovic got back to do the same to Bratt.

3rd Period

The top line had a long shift in the Blue Jackets zone. The Devils had an odd man rush a moment later and Merzlikins made a save on Haula.

Wood intercepted a pass and would’ve had a 1 on 1 chance but he left the puck behind

Hischier and Bratt had a 2 on 1 but Peeke blocked the shot, the 18th Devils shot blocked by Columbus. SOG are even but the Devils have 18 shots wide and 18 shots blocked.

The Devils had some trouble keeping Laine in check and Sharangovich took a hooking penalty.

The Devils cleared to kill off the first 30 seconds.

Haula cleared after Graves broke up a pass with 40 seconds left

Bemstrom had a good look but ripped it wide

With 7:50 left, the last 6 scoring chances are all Blue Jackets. They had a chance where Vanecek had to make a save on a puck he only saw at the last second and another good chance for CBJ was blocked.

Vanecek made a full split save on Marchenko in the slot. Last 11 SOG all Columbus

The Devils managed to get a good shift with a 3rd line and force an icing with tired Jackets on the ice. 1st line out on the draw. Merzlikins gloves the first shot for a TV timeout.

Merzlikins thought he covered a shot, but it was loose and he made a great pad save on Bratt trying to poke it in.

With only seconds left in the game, the Devils got the puck forward. Palat had it on the right side and lost it for a second, forcing him to stop. He found Mike McLeod off the bench. He deked and walked right in and made a centering pass. Ryan Graves had snuck into the blue paint and tapped it in with 1.7 seconds remaining. Devils win, 3-2! No need for overtime in this one

Finding Ways to Get Points Without Jack Hughes

The Devils have played 3 games without Jack Hughes and are 2-0-1 in that span. Hamilton and Tatar had 2 goal games. Marino and Graves chipped in with goals. Bratt was probably the most noticeable Devil tonight and he added a goal. Sharangovich also found the scoresheet. It would be a great time for him to get going.

Who Deserved to Win?

This time, as it should be, it was solidly the Devils who controlled play. As you might’ve seen from the stats, SOG were about even, but all other metrics were skewed in favor of NJ. They did give up a few more dangerous chances to Columbus than I would’ve liked, but they were the better team in the end, and picked up the 2 points.

Which Boqvist Brother Won the Battle?

In terms of individual performance, Adam wins with his sweet goal. Jesper made a nice pass to Haula that would’ve been a slick assist if it went in and had a solid defensive play to tip away a dangerous pass, so it’s not like he had a bad game, but he did not find the scoresheet or do anything crazy that puts him over his brother here.

For the team battle, though, Jesper wins, with the Devils winning the game. So a pretty even battle. It was cool to hear that their dad has watched every Devils game this season. Must really mess up his sleep schedule though!

Your Thoughts

What did you think about the game? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thank you for reading.