The New Jersey Devils are trying their best to navigate through the absence of Jack Hughes as he recovers from a thumb injury. They may still be near the top of the Metropolitan Division, but they dropped their last two games.
On Monday night, the Devils lost 5-3 to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The talk hasn't been about the loss, but about the numerous fights that took place. In the second period, defenseman Brenden Dillon, who was celebrating his 1,000th game, got into a fight with Blue Jackets defenseman Dmitri Voronkov. Dillon was caught off balance during the scrum and punched in the face by Voronkov despite his sweater being pulled over his head.