The Devils haven’t had many disappointing  home games so far. One of the best teams on home ice, they entered last night’s game against the Blue Jackets with only one loss in regulation at The Prudential Center.

For only the second time in a dozen home games, the Devils lost in regulation, falling to the Blue Jackets 5-3 in Newark. They’re still 9-2-1 at The Rock.

Last night, the Devils honored defenseman Brenden Dillon before his 1,000th career game. An undrafted player whose hard work and commitment are the biggest reasons for his success in the NHL, Dillon got emotional leading up to the game during an interview yesterday. When he was shown a picture of him as a kid on the ice with his Dad, he teared up while giving a great response.

Little did they know that Dillon would be involved in a physical altercation with Dmitri Voronkov that led to a lot of nastiness during an intense second period. 

After goals from Nico Hischier and Ondrej Palat put them up by two early, the Blue Jackets answered back with a Denton Mateychuk goal on the power play that cut it to 2-1. The Devils had a Timo Meier power-play goal overturned due to a successful coach’s challenge for goaltender interference on Stefan Noesen, who bumped into Elvis Merzlikins prior to Meier steering in a loose puck in the crease.

With the Devils already down a man at the start of the second period, a scrum led to Dillon and Voronkov getting involved. Adam Fantilli was given a cross-check from Dillon after he poked Jake Allen’s pads looking for a rebound.

Then, Voronkov challenged Dillon, who managed to get off the first punch before having his gloves off. Voronkov already was ready and caught Dillon with an uppercut that sent him down hard to the ice with his head exposed. A visibly wobbly Dillon had to be helped to the locker room.

It was a scary scene. But somehow, Dillon was able to return before the period ended. A warrior, he received cheers from the crowd.

Prior to that happening, Sean Monahan quickly tied the score on a rush by beating Luke Hughes and Jonas Siegenthaler on the play.

Fireworks followed. During a scrum involving six players, Siegenthaler fought Fantilli. After absorbing some rights, he got the takedown. Unfortunately, Siegenthaler was ejected from the game for not having his jersey tied down, leaving the Devils down two defensemen.

When Dillon returned later, they still had five before the team made the wise decision to hold him out for the third as a precaution.

A few minutes later, Noesen went after Voronkov for some revenge. He took some punches before getting a takedown. Twelve seconds later, Paul Cotter took on Brendan Smith. No stranger to fighting, Cotter did okay against the very experienced Smith, who once played for the Devils.

Before the period concluded, matching roughing minors were given to Cody Glass and Monahan. The teams combined for 64 penalty minutes (Devils 36 Blue Jackets 28) in the hectic second.

The Blue Jackets struck for two goals over a 34-second span. Charlie Coyle beat Allen in front, and Monahan got his second of the game to suddenly put the Devils down by two.

However, the Devils struck for the third time on the power play thanks to a nice passing play from Hischier, and Bratt set up Timo Meier for his 10th to cut the deficit to one.

But less than two minutes later, an Allen misplay for Hughes behind the net allowed Coyle to set up Miles Wood for a backbreaking goal that restored the Blue Jackets’ two-goal lead.

Although they lost the game, the Devils showed that they won’t be bullied by opponents. Even if Dillon wasn’t totally innocent in what happened, they had his back.

That’s exactly the kind of strong response you wanted to see. They’re a tight-knit unit, which explains why they remain near the top of the standings. Two total points separate first place Carolina from third place Washington, with the Devils a point behind the Hurricanes.

The Metropolitan Division remains tight with both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia right behind the Caps. Even the last place Rangers entered Tuesday six out of first. It speaks to how competitive most of the league is. There aren’t many bad teams who are completely out of it.

With a day off, the Devils will be back to host the Stars on Wednesday night. Dallas will have a rested Jake Oettinger, who’s getting tonight off against the Rangers. The Stars should present a good challenge, boasting the red hot Jason Robertson and power-play goal leader Wyatt Johnston.