Sunday night, the New Jersey Devils (18-10-2) fell to the Colorado Avalanche (16-13-0) in a frustrating 4-0 shutout loss. Devils certainly had their chances, however, was beat by a locked in goaltender and had some inopportune blunders on the back end.
First Period
The first few minutes of the game started slow, with both teams exchanging a few light, low-danger chances in the other’s zone. The Devils kept Colorado to low-danger areas but the Avalanche still managed to score the first goal of the game at the 4:07 mark when Brendan Dillion got caught puck-watching and drifted off his man at the front of the net and Ross Colton whacked home an easy chance.
New Jersey came back at Colorado with some good pressure, generating a good amount of shots on goal. The Devils thought they got the equalizer when the puck deflected off Jesper Bratt’s stick past Scott Wedgewood but it was called off immediately for high-sticking.
They maintained that pressure even after the no-goal call, commanding possession time. Again, the Devils thought they had tied the game midway through the period when the puck went into the back of the net after a chaotic net-front sequence but, after a further review, the referees had blown the play dead before the puck crossed the line. Even if they hadn’t, Stefan Noesen appeared to push Wedgwood’s pad over the line, which would have been goaltender interference.
Logan O’Connor twisted the knife late in the period, tipping an innocent-looking shot from Joel Kiviranta past a helpless Jake Allen. New Jersey got a power play chance in the closing minutes of the period when Tomas Tatar drew an interference call on Sam Malinski. Unfortunately, for New Jersey, their league-best power-play unit didn’t capitalize on the chance, with the best opportunity coming from Nico Hischier on a broken play.
The Devils went into the locker room down 2-0 but they played well overall. They controlled five-on-five play with a 59.46 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and a 79.79 expected goal percentage (xG%). The difference was Scott Wedgewood, who played New Jersey’s 11 shots perfectly.
Second Period
The Avalanche swung the momentum to start the second period and didn’t relent. The Devils only recorded two shots in the first six minutes of the period and didn’t record a single one in the final 14 minutes. The Avalanche didn’t put on relentless pressure but slowly choked New Jersey with stonewall defensive play.
Colorado padded their lead at the 14:35 mark when Dougie Hamilton lost control of the puck entering the offensive zone, granting Artturi Lehkonen a clean breakaway. Hamilton and the Devils made a few of those mistakes in the second period, giving the Avalanche a few clean breakaways. They got lucky that Lehkonen was the only one that resulted in a goal.
The Avalanche got their first power-play chance of the night when Stefan Noesen got called for holding late in the period. The Devils’ penalty-killers performed well against the sixth-best power-play unit in the league, a lone bright spot in the period.
Unlike the first period, the Avalanche backed up their lead by controlling every facet of play. New Jersey managed a paltry 27.27 CF% and an 11.40 xG% at five-on-five.
Third Period
The Devils played a much better third period but still couldn’t find their way to the back of the net. The Devils got an early power play chance off a Samuel Girard interference call. They set up well and looked like their usual selves on the man advantage but Scott Wedgewood stood tall yet again to deny them their first goal. New Jersey didn’t go on to dominate after the power play but they established a good presence in the offensive zone and cleared their own well.
The rest of the period saw New Jersey limping to the finish line. They outplayed Colorado at five-on-five and set up some good plays but the Avs played conservatively and cautiously to prevent a flukey goal. This limited their offensive output but frustrated New Jersey in the offensive zone. That combined with more stellar play from Wedgewood held the Devils at bay. Head coach Sheldon Keefe pulled Jake Allen early to try and get back in the game but Parker Kelly scored an empty-netter to put the game on ice.
The Devils controlled the game much better in the final period, notching a 68.18 CF% and a 78.96 xG% at five-on-five. These numbers are deceptive though as Colorado had the game locked down throughout most of the period.
Results
The Devils have been doing an odd thing where they have a stretch of some really good games with lots of goalscoring next to a stinker of a game once every so often. These games haven’t been regular blowouts, they’ve mostly been shutouts. The same thing happened against the Blues and Sharks recently. The good thing is that they’ve always been able to shake off the shutout and win the next game. They’ll look to do just that after this latest shutout.
The Devils now own an 18-10-2 record and sit second in the Metropolitan Division with 38 points. On the other hand, the Avalanche are 16-13-0, good for fourth in the Central with 32 points.
Game Notes
- Scott Wedgewood had yet another classic against his former team, stopping all 26 shots he faced to secure the shutout. Including last night, Wedgewood has a 4-0-0 record with a .966 save percentage. The Devils just love getting goalied by the most random guys.
- The usually-effective power play did not show up last night, missing on all three of their chances. With Colorado’s 28th-ranked penalty kill providing for weak competition, New Jersey needed to capitalize with the man advantage.
- Though the lack of offensive production ultimately doomed the Devils, defensive lapses from Dougie Hamilton, who gave up a breakaway, and Brendan Dillion, who left his man unprotected in front of the net, made Jake Allen’s life much more difficult than it needed to be.
Up Next
The Devils will look to bounce back against the Maple Leafs tomorrow at 7:00 pm ET.