On Tuesday evening, the Columbus Blue Jackets and New Jersey Devils met for the second time this season in a monumental Metropolitan Division clash. In a high-scoring affair, it was the Devils who emerged victorious, 5-3. Jesper Bratt led the way with three points, as they improve to 35-25-6. The Blue Jackets fall to 31-25-8.
The Devils were dominating possession time early and got rewarded as they drew a penalty. Then Nico Hischier scored on the ensuing man advantage to make it 1-0. A few minutes later, Paul Cotter came out of the box and scored on a partial breakaway, going five-hole on Merzlikins.
During a television timeout, Devils fans went nuts during their “Dessert Race”. After a long few months of waiting, Mrs. Fields, who had lost the first 30 races of the season, was finally victorious. Here was the crowd reaction:
Here’s the moment it happened.
All the pain was worth it.Crowd went NUTS#NJDevils pic.twitter.com/wbaXXZ1Gu3
— Daniel Amoia (@daniel_amoia) March 11, 2025
After the game, head coach Sheldon Keefe spoke to The Hockey Writers about that moment: “That was outstanding. Clearly, nice work by the game crew. I think that response from the fans, we were kind of shocked. Everybody wasn’t quite sure what was happening. But I just think that the fans are so important for our team, you know, and you’ve got to play well. You’ve got to give them a reason to cheer and get into the games and all of that (…) They were engaged from the start of the game, and they carried through. Big win for Mrs. Fields.”
Then Jesper Bratt scored right out of the timeout to make it 3-0 and the Devils headed down the tunnel to a standing ovation.
Just a little over three minutes into the second, Mathieu Olivier made it 3-1 with a nice redirection. A few minutes later, Kirill Marchenko scored a gorgeous backhand to make it 3-2. Suddenly, a nervous energy came over the crowd. But late in the frame, Timo Meier sniped one past Merzlikins on a 2-on-1 to double the Devils’ lead and the crowd was back to being energized.
Then just 26 seconds into the third, Luke Hughes wristed one through to make it 5-2. Mathieu Olivier responded with his 15th goal of the season to make it 5-3, but the Devils shut it down from there.
The Blue Jackets will return home on Thursday to face the Vegas Golden Knights; the Devils will remain at the Prudential Center, also on Thursday, as they face the Edmonton Oilers.
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