Blue Jackets visit Devils in search of fourth consecutive win

NEWARK, N.J. -- The Columbus Blue Jackets have spent virtually the entire season with a winning record and have attained it without a long winning streak.

The Blue Jackets seek their season-high fourth straight win Sunday afternoon when they visit the New Jersey Devils.

Columbus has been at .500 just twice and has owned a winning record since a 7-4 home victory over the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 25.

The Blue Jackets are on their second three-game winning streak after a 4-3 victory on Saturday in Philadelphia. Columbus also is 4-0-1 in its last five games after a big game from its top line of Artemi Panarin, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Cam Atkinson. They combined for eight points and were on the ice for each goal.

The big day came after coach John Tortorella considered breaking up the trio on a day he conceded the Blue Jackets were not at their best.

"That's a really good line and has been a good line for us for a long time," Tortorella said. "And I was going to break them up after three shifts today. Figure that one out."

Atkinson scored twice and has three goals in his last two games after going without a goal in his previous six. Dubois collected three assists for his fourth multi-point game of the season. Panarin had a goal and two assists for his third three-point game of the season.

"It's fun," Atkinson said. "We are depended on to score goals as a line, and we take a lot of pride in that. It's not always going to go your way. We've been getting a lot of scoring chances recently and haven't scored, but to get on the scoresheet right away, I think it loosened us up a little bit and allowed us to play free. We expect to get on the ice and score goals."

The Blue Jackets played their second straight one-goal game after Atkinson scored the game-winner against New Jersey on a penalty shot in Thursday's 2-1 victory.

"The close games we've been in, even though we haven't always gotten the result, I think we've played very well in them," Tortorella said. "I think in the big picture as you go through the grind of the season, you have to learn to win these games and play in them. If you're fortunate enough to get involved in the playoffs, that's what lots of games are going to be like."

New Jersey's 31 points are last in the Eastern Conference. It is seeking consecutive wins for the first time since beating Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on Nov. 13-15. Since then, the Devils are 4-7-6 in their last 17 games.

The Devils snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Friday night after losing 24 hours earlier in Columbus.

Like the Blue Jackets, the Devils also received significant contributions from their top line as Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri and Nico Hischier combined for nine points.

"It's fun to see those guys when they're going," Devils defenseman Sami Vatanen said. "I don't think there are many guys who can stop them if they keep playing like that and creating so many chances. It's fun to watch."

Hall had two goals and two assists, giving him three goals and three assists since returning from a brief absence because of a lower body injury. Palmieri had a goal and two assists for his second three-point game of the season. Hischier posted his first multi-point game since Nov. 30.

"I think everyone is sick of losing, and that might be our downfall at times, is people try to do too much, take the game over by themselves instead of working as a five-man unit and really getting through this as a team," Hall said. "Certainly tonight I had some jump, and I don't think I touched the puck the first two shifts. But after that our line got rolling and started feeling good and made some plays."

Columbus is 10-3 in the last 13 meetings since the start of the 2015-16 season.