NEWARK, N.J. _ The Devils were winning puck battles and paralyzing the Blue Jackets with their forecheck.
And then they weren't.
In a reversal of the teams' game at Columbus on Tuesday, the Blue Jackets were the aggressors over the final 40 minutes to erase a two-goal deficit and win, 5-3, on Friday night at Prudential Center, leap-frogging back over the Devils back into first place in the Metropolitan Division.
The Devils (16-8-4) had won the opener of this home-and-home series, 4-1.
Artemi Panarin tied an NHL-high for this season with five primary assists and Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves for the Blue Jackets (18-10-1), stoning Damon Severson at the crease with his pad at 5:34 of the third period to preserve a one-goal lead.
Cory Schneider stopped 23 shots.
The Blue Jackets, who came into the game ranked last in the NHL on the power play at 8.6 percent, took a 4-3 lead at 1:32 of the third period with their eighth man-advantage goal of the season. Panarin set up Alexander Wennberg after Devils penalty kill stalwart Travis Zajac failed to clear the puck from the zone.
The Devils couldn't convert on a four-minute power play after Markus Hannikainen drew blood with a high stick on Nico Hischier at 11:05 of the third period and Panarin set up Zach Werenski for a four-on-four goal to make it 5-3 at 15:02.
Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella described his team's second and third period on Tuesday as "disgusting" and declared himself "disgusted" with his team's play, so much so that he cancelled a scheduled day off on Wednesday and instead put his players through a practice.
But none of that motivated the Blue Jackets to a good start as the Devils continued to dictate the play through the first 15 minutes of the game.
The Devils' forecheck, in particular, dominated the Blue Jackets, leaving them out of position defensively.
It paid off with a 2-0 first-period lead for the Devils.
Brian Boyle, with his fifth goal since returning to the lineup after being diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia at the start of training camp and his fourth goal in his last seven games, got open low in the slot and converted Jimmy Hayes' backhand feed from behind the crease for a 1-0 lead at 8:29.
Then, Marcus Johansson snapped a six-game goal-less streak stretching to Oct. 19 after he missed 13 games with a concussion suffered on Nov. 1, by beating Bobrovsky to the right post for a wraparound goal for a two-goal lead at 14:10.
But the second period was a mirror image as the Blue Jackets forged a 3-2 lead with the Devils consistently a step behind and beat on puck battles.
Panarin stripped the puck from defenseman Steven Santini along the right boards and fed Pierre-Luc Dubois, who had beaten rookie Jesper Bratt to the slot, to cut the lead to 2-1 at 2:29. Lukas Sedlak, off a cross-ice feed from Panarin, who had stolen Andy Greene's breakout pass, dribbled a shot past Schneider to tie the game at 2 at 5:44.
And at 14:13, after the Blue Jackets killed off two Devils' power plays, Panarin's cross-ice feed allowed Scott Harrington to give the Blue Jackets a 3-2 lead.
Blake Coleman, cutting to the far post, converted Brian Gibbons' feed from the right circle to tie the game at 3 with 19.9 seconds to go in the second period.
But the period's biggest play may have been the no-call on Werenski when he smacked Taylor Hall's left skate on a mini-breakaway at 10:35, sending Hall, playing his 100th game with the Devils, sprawling into the left post.
