NEWARK, N.J. -- Both the New Jersey Devils and Columbus Blue Jackets agreed on the essential facts.

New Jersey was the better team for 40 minutes. Columbus was only able to muster one good period.

Oh, and the Blue Jackets won the game.

"You have to find a way," Columbus coach John Tortorella said after center Boone Jenner and right winger Cam Atkinson scored 35 seconds apart midway through the third period to spark the Blue Jackets to a 3-1 win over the Devils Tuesday night at the Prudential Center.

"We ended up scoring a goal and then another comes through," Tortorella said. "The boys stayed with it and that's the good thing."

Left winger Scott Hartnell added an unassisted goal for Columbus while goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves to help the Blue Jackets win consecutive games for the first time this season.

The Blue Jackets are 2-1-0 since replacing Todd Richards as head coach with Tortorella, who admitted he is still learning about his new team.

"We didn't play that well and that's on me," said Tortorella, whose team was outshot 24-14 and out-attempted 40-25. "Our team looked tired tonight and it's me not knowing the club right now. I think we skated (at) tempo (Monday) a little bit too long and it affected us. We're going to learn to skate at a tempo where it won't affect us but that hurt us."

New Jersey's four-game winning streak came to an end with the loss.

Right winger Kyle Palmieri scored a power-play goal, and goaltender Cory Schneider made 11 saves in the losing effort.

But he lamented Columbus' one-two combination of Jenner and Atkinson.

Jenner opened the scoring at 9:03 of the third period with his sixth of the season. Stationed in the low slot, Jenner corralled a loose puck and whipped a shot past Schneider.

Atkinson increased the lead to 2-0 when he scored his second of the season at 9:38. Like Jenner, Atkinson was in front of the net and was able to tap center Brandon Dubinsky's feed into the net.

"It's not good enough, (that) third period," Schneider said. "We can't let (that) one break take the wind out of our sails. For me, I can't have two goals back-to-back like that. I think we could have responded better. That's on us."

Hartnell's snap shot from the left circle 5:09 later put the game out of reach, although Palmieri's second of the season cut the deficit to 3-1 in the closing minutes.

New Jersey went 1-for-4 on the power play, while Columbus went 0-for-3.

"We carried the play for the majority of the game. They found a way to get a few," New Jersey center Adam Henrique said. "Tough to let them hang around."

NOTES: Blue Jackets C Ryan Johansen missed his second straight game as he remained in Columbus to allow medical professionals to diagnose the root cause of his exhaustion. According to the team's website, coach John Tortorella said Johansen "just doesn't feel well. He lacks energy." ... Prior to the game, New Jersey placed LW Tuomo Ruutu on the injured reserve, retroactive to Oct. 16, with a fractured right foot. ... Former Devils LW Martin Havlat and C Dainius Zubrus signed professional tryout contracts with the St. Louis Blues Tuesday. Havlat's agent, Allan Walsh, confirmed on Twitter that his client had agreed to the PTO. ... As part of the NHL's Hockey Fights Cancer initiative, New Jersey wore lavender warm up jerseys that were later autographed and auctioned off. Additionally, the dasherboards and the ads on the dasherboards were ensconced in lavender and white. ... New Jersey scratched RW Bobby Farnham and LW Stefan Matteau. The Devils claimed Farnham off of waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins Monday. ... Columbus scratched D Kevin Connauton and RW Jared Boll. ... The announced attendance was 12,847. ... The loudest cheer of the night occurred when the scoreboard showed the New York Mets tied the Kansas City Royals 1-1 in Game 1 of the World Series.