Blue Jackets see signs of improvement ahead of Devils' visit

The Columbus Blue Jackets and New Jersey Devils will end December just as they began it -- by playing each other.

They also might end the month tied in the standings, which neither team could have imagined 30 days ago.

The Blue Jackets will look to remain hot while the Devils will try to stop their slide Wednesday night when Columbus hosts New Jersey in a New Year's Eve battle of Metropolitan Division rivals.

The Blue Jackets earned their third straight win Monday night, earning a 4-1 road victory over the Ottawa Senators.

The Devils are completing a back-to-back road set after taking a 4-0 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night.

The defeat kept the Devils just two points ahead of the Blue Jackets, who sit alone in the Eastern Conference basement with 40 points. Columbus opened December six points behind New Jersey.

The month hasn't been an entirely smooth one for the Blue Jackets, who won two straight to begin December -- including a 5-3 victory over in New Jersey on Dec. 1 -- before losing seven of eight (1-6-1) from Dec. 6-20.

However, the Blue Jackets bookended the holiday break by outscoring the Los Angeles Kings, New York Islanders and Ottawa 11-4. Columbus, which scored three goals in the final five minutes to stun the visiting Islanders on Sunday, never trailed against the Senators despite dealing with a spate of flight delays that forced faceoff to be pushed back half an hour.

"Our guys don't care -- they don't care," Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. "They just play hockey. They've done that. Yeah, maybe we didn't have the results earlier in the year, but for the most part, we've played the same way. Our guys don't care about any of the distractions outside of that dressing room and in the arena, and that allows them to have a chance to win hockey games."

The December results have gone one way for New Jersey, which is 4-9-1 this month. The four-game losing streak is the second time in the last five weeks the Devils have dropped at least four straight. They lost five in a row from Nov. 29 through Dec. 6.

The Devils have been outscored 13-5 during the current skid, which followed New Jersey's only set of back-to-back wins this month -- a pair of 2-1 road wins over the Vegas Golden Knights, in a shootout on Dec. 17, and the Utah Mammoth, on Dec. 19.

The shutout loss on Tuesday was the third of the month for the Devils, who have scored three or fewer goals in seven straight games and 11 times overall in December. New Jersey's 103 goals this season are the fewest among Eastern Conference teams.

Devils captain Nico Hischier attempted to provide a spark in the third period on Tuesday when he fought Maple Leafs left winger Matthew Knies, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 232 pounds -- 2 inches taller and 32 pounds heavier than Hischier. However, Toronto scored 13 seconds later when Calle Jarnkrok's shot glanced off New Jersey defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler and in to put the hosts up 3-0.

"Do we need some guys to step up and show some emotion and show some (courage) and play with some urgency and step out of character?" Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. "Yeah, we need more of that. I like that Nico did it, and hopefully it rubs off on the rest of the group in a positive way. Your captain is out there taking on a big guy, stepping out of character. We'll see what we have."

--Field Level Media