The New Jersey Devils (21-31-5) dominated the Colorado Avalanche (41-12-5) last night. Despite getting down 3-0, the Devils were playing like the much-better team the whole game. The young Devils did not quite and ultimately scored five unanswered goals and got the 5-3 victory.
Before last night’s contest, the Colorado Avalanche were 41-11-5. According to the MSG broadcast, Colorado was also 23-0-0 since November of 2018 when holding a three goal lead. Just an absurdly impressive victory by the Devils.
Game Summary
Period 1
The Avalanche struck twice in the opening frame. Both goals coming on the power play. The first goal was a rolling puck that looked easily trappable by Nico Daws. However, the puck saw its way into the back of the net. The second goal was a knuckle-puck that Mikko Rantanen did not get all of but beat a sliding Daws. Despite this, the Devils dominated at five-on-five. They held a 63.18% of the expected goal share and out-shot attempted Colorado 24-15. Signs of good things to come.
Period 2
Like the first period, the Devils were playing well but the Avalanche struck first. Norris Trophy favorite Cale Makar put home a rebound given up by Daws. A Devils’ shot in the offensive zone took an unfortunate bounce that led to play springing the other way. Jonas Siegenthaler did a good job playing the two-on-one until Damon Severson hustled back. However, Daws inability to stop the original shot led to a 3-0 deficit.
Finally, all the great play by New Jersey was rewarded. The Devils scored three consecutive goals to close out the period. Tomas Tatar scored first as he batted a puck weakly past Philipp Grubauer, it was his first goal in 10 games. Ty Smith then followed it up with his second goal in as many games after a beautiful skating play by Jack Hughes. Finally, Severson blasted home a power play goal to tie the game at three.
The dominate second period saw the Devils out-shot attempt the Avalanche 26-13 at all strengths. New Jersey also controlled 76.38% of the expected goal share. During a season where the Devils experienced so many second period woes, it was the period that led to a terrific comeback.
Period 3
The Devils tallied two more goals in the third period to make it five unanswered for the game. Nathan Bastian scored the game-winning goal on the power play. It was his 10th of the season and assisted by Hughes and Jesper Bratt. New Jersey did have to kill off a penalty and some six-on-four time, but Yegor Sharangovich iced the game with an empty net goal. His 14th of the season which was assisted by Dawson Mercer (20th assist of the year).
Wrap-Up
The Devils dominated last night’s hockey game against the league’s best. They held 66.85% of the expected goal share (at five-on-five), out-shot attempted Colorado 58-41 (at five-on-five), and outshot the Avalanche 43-26. You will not see many performances like such against Colorado.
As for individual scoring, Bratt once again led the way with three assists. Hughes and Sharangovich had two points each. While seven other Devils had at least a point. Nico Daws got his fifth win of the season as he stopped 23 of 26 shots.
Games Notes
- Nico Daws had a shaky start to the game but settled in. He saved -0.01 goals above expected. Simply put, he let up the number of goals expected based off the opportunities Colorado got. After last night’s game, he has a .906 save percentage which is right at league average – which describes how he has played quite well. That is all the Devils’ need him to be.
- What else can be said about the Devils’ dynamic duo of Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt? Hughes had two assists and six shots while Bratt has three assists. As the above and below 82-game paces point out, each are elite forwards in this league.
- New Jersey was carried by their top two lines. Given the absence of captain Nico Hischier, this was pretty expected. The line of Tomas Tatar, Pavel Zacha, and Jesper Bratt owned a Corsi-for percentage (CF%) of 66.67 and an expected goal share of 92.47% while on the ice. Meanwhile, Yegor Sharangovich, Dawson Mercer, and Jack Hughes had a CF% of 54.84 and an expected goal share of 59.92%. A great night for each trio.
- The Devils’ shutdown pairing of Severson and Siegenthaler played roughly 13 minutes of five-on-five ice time against the unit of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Devon Toews, and Cale Makar. The pairing did a great job as the Devils held a CF% in the 57.00 range and an expected goal share around 56.00%. Actual goals scored were even at 1-1.
What’s Next:
The Devils continue their home stand against the Winnipeg Jets. This game is slated for Thursday, Match 10th at 7:00 PM ET.
All statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.