Both Marek Zidlicky and Jack Johnson made their respective debuts with their new teams on Sunday, albeit in losses. The two finished a combined minus-3 with no points in losses for the Devils and Blue Jackets.
Zidlicky logged 5:18 on the power play and made several strong passes early in the game, but put just one puck on goal and iced the puck in the game's dying seconds when the Devils were aiming to tie it up.
Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, Johnson got a glimpse of what life will be like with the Blue Jackets, as they fell 4-2 to Pittsburgh. Johnson finished a minus-1 himself with a shot on goal in 23:39 of ice time. 2:22 of that ice time was on the power play, as he led all Columbus defenders, edging James Wisniewski by eight seconds. Johnson will have every opportunity to produce on the power play, but he could be doing it without Rick Nash come Monday.
In other news from the Columbus-Pittsburgh game, Kris Letang slammed home his ninth of the season while Nikita Nikitin notched his sixth point in eight games with an assist. The former St. Louis Blue has a solid 20 points in 34 games.
The Devils' welcomed back Adam Larsson to the lineup in Sunday's loss, with the rookie playing 18:13 and finishing with an even rating. Larsson did not play terribly well, according to the Newark Star-Ledger's Rich Chere.
Will be interesting to see what defensemen change addresses on the trade deadline.
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