The New Jersey Devils shouldn’t beat themselves up too much; few opponents are having any luck against Sergei Bobrovsky lately.
The red-hot Russian accomplished another first in Columbus Blue Jackets history on Tuesday, grabbing a third consecutive shutout at home as Columbus beat New Jersey 2-0.
That factoid might seem a bit on the highly specific side, but three straight shutouts is impressive anyway you slice such an accomplishment.
#CBJ win 2-0. 3rd-straight shutout for Sergei Bobrovsky. Ties club record with 3rd-straight shutout by a player (Mason: Dec. 27-31, 2008).
— CBJ Public Relations (@BlueJacketsPR) March 8, 2017
This also marks the second consecutive time that Bobrovsky blanked the Devils, although this time he had to work much harder, making 33 stops. “Bob” also fattened his franchise record for wins in a single season, grabbing his 35th.
Along with those 35 wins, Bobrovsky has six shutouts in 2016-17 and continues to build his argument in the increasingly crowded Vezina race.
From the look of things, Bobrovsky and the Blue Jackets might set some other franchise records by the time they hit game 82.
With a win tonight, #CBJ are 42-17-6 on the season (90 points); it's the 3rd-highest points total in franchise history.
— Rob Mixer (@RobMixer) March 8, 2017
With 17 games left.
Those 90 points place the Blue Jackets alone at second in the hotly contested Metro, at least for now.