The New Jersey Devils and Columbus Blue Jackets are still talking about their matchup from Monday night. Well, the Blue Jackets are talking about it more than the Devils. After Brenden Dillon was injured after a fight with Dmitri Voronkov, Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe refused to mince words in the postgame press conference.
"All I know is there's no more honorable player in this league than Brenden Dillon and plays as hard and honest a game as anybody in the league. He would never do something like that to another player. That I know for certain."Sheldon Keefe, Devils head coach
Obviously, Keefe didn’t like what he saw on the ice from Voronkov. It was a dangerous play, at the very least. Voronkov hit Dillon multiple times with bare knuckles before Dillon got his gloves off, and he purposely pulled him off balance, falling on top of him after Dillon fell face-first into the ice.
He would go on to address the play more directly, saying he didn't like it at all.
"I don't think Dilly knows he's in a fight. I think he's tackled from behind, and before he knows it, his helmet is off, his jersey's over his head, and we saw what happened from there. I don't like it at all."Sheldon Keefe, Devils head coach
The rest of the game fell into chaos. There were multiple other fights, including one involving Jonas Siegenthaler, where he got kicked out of the game for what was essentially an equipment violation. Stefan Noesen also got into a fight with Voronkov. It was a violent affair that also included multiple rough penalties and big hits.
And now, we’re hearing from the other side. The Blue Jackets obviously responded to what happened on the ice, but we’re hearing for the first time from their side after they heard Keefe’s comments. It’s clear they weren’t fans of what he said.
#CBJ coach Dean Evason not pleased with #NJDevils coach Sheldon Keefe questioning the character of forwards Dmitri Voronkov and Adam Fantilli following the fight-filled 5-3 win Monday.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) December 3, 2025
“We saw (Keefe’s) comments,” Evason said. “They have no bearing on our room.”
The teams are going to defend their players, so we’re not surprised by the response. We are surprised that this conversation is still going.
Mathieu Olivier, who was out of the lineup on Monday, is apparently expected to do “something” when the two face off again on New Year’s Eve. He liked a tweet that alluded to being excited for their matchup at the end of the month.
It sounds like this could turn into a rivalry. The Devils have seen rivalries come up, like their angry matchups with the Carolina Hurricanes. This rivalry has developed recently, and it’s even passed their rivalry with the Philadelphia Flyers. Could Columbus be next?
Honestly, this comes down to the coaches, and if the New Year’s Eve battle ends with a blip, it would end right there. There’s still a lot before this can actually be a rivalry, including an actual playoff matchup, but for now, it’s good to have high-energy matchups in the regular season.