The Devils are playing without injured stars Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton, but they’re still capable of putting together dominant stretches of puck possession. They did it sporadically against the Blue Jackets, including a three-goal first period aided by a power play and two fortunate bounces.

The New Jersey Devils hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 11. This was a huge game, as the Blue Jackets have been slowly creeping closer to the playoffs, as they are now in the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

With the win, the Devils now have a six-point lead (76-70) on Columbus, who is chasing New Jersey, in the Metro Division standings. With the Blue Jackets having played two less games than the Devils (64-66), it was a pivotal win for the Devils to get some breathing room in the playoff chase.