Blue Jackets erupt for 6 goals in rout of Devils

By AP
Published

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Artemi Panarin and Oliver Bjorkstrand each had a goal and an assist, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 35 shots as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the New Jersey Devils 6-1 on Saturday night to snap a five-game losing streak.




Pierre-Luc Dubois, Josh Anderson, Nick Foligno and Matt Calvert also scored for the Blue Jackets, who badly needed a win after dropping both ends of a home-and-home series this week to Metropolitan Division-leading Washington and falling farther behind the Capitals in the tightly bunched division. It was their first win in regulation in their last 14 games.

Keith Kinkaid, playing in place of an injured Cory Schneider, stopped 44 shots for the Devils, who have lost three straight and seven of their last 10. Kyle Palmieri scored with 3 1/2 minutes left to spoil Bobrovsky's shutout bid.

Dubuois scored his 12th goal of the season late in the first period when he skated into the slot and snapped in a perfect feed from Panarin.










Columbus scored the next three goals in a space of 3:09 in the second period.

Panarin got his 15th of the season at 11:49 as Cam Atkinson missed with a wraparound try, and Panarin was in the perfect spot to backhand it past Kinkaid.

Anderson got his team-leading 17th and made it 3-0 just 80 seconds later on a breakaway, in which Bobrovsky was awarded a secondary assist. Bjorkstrand finished the flurry with a top-shelf tally, his ninth of the season.










Foligno, playing in his 400th game with the Blue Jackets, put back a rebound in the third period for his 11th goal, and Matt Calvert made it 6-0 with a rocket from the slot on a power play at 9:45.

NOTES: Columbus scored three goals in a single period for the first time since Dec. 29 and scored six goals in a game for the first time since Dec. 14. ... G Schneider missed his seventh straight game due to an injury. Kincaid started his sixth straight in his place. ... F Jimmy Hayes and D Mirco Mueller were scratched for New Jersey. ... F Lukas Sedlak and D Dean Kukan were scratches for the Blue Jackets.

UP NEXT

Devils: Hosts Boston on Sunday.

Blue Jackets: At the New York Islanders on Tuesday.