The New Jersey Devils road trip continued against the Colorado Avalanche. The Devils lost to the Avalanche for the second time this season, being outscored by them 9-1 combined between the two games. Specifically, the Avalanche won 5-1 late Wednesday night.
Game Recap
First Period
This period saw the Avalanche take it to the Devils right from puck drop. Shots on goal were 7-1 in favor of the Avalanche and at the 11:06 mark the Avalanche grabbed the lead. After killing off the Devils’ power play, they went to work. Martin Necas fed a pass from behind the net that found the stick of Artteri Lehkonen, who fired a backhanded shot between the legs of Jake Allen.
The Devils got themselves into penalty trouble, giving the Avalanche a five-on-three advantage, but held the Avalanche to two shots on goal. The Devils got a power play of their own, but didn’t capitalize. They survived that period and headed into the second period down by one goal.
The Devils got pummeled in overall game play during five-on-five. The Avalanche held the edge in shot attempts (20-9) and shots on goal (8-5). Credit to Jake Allen who weathered the storm, finishing the period with 0.68 goals saved above expected.
Second Period
The Devils came out flying in the second period. There were no goals scored by either team, but the Devils started the period by controlling the pace. Also, they managed to survive the final three minutes of the period, as the Avalanche put forth quite the push to try and extend their lead. Both Allen and Blackwood stood tall in the crease and kept it a 1-0 game.
The Avalanche held the edge in shot attempts (22-18) and the shots on goal (12-10). Things were tightly contested in the high-danger areas, but the Avalanche still controlled the expected goals share 1.11-0.65 during five on five play.
Third Period
The Devils found themselves in trouble once again and this time the Avalanche made them play. After great puck movement, an Avalanche slap shot created a rebound. Allen lost sight of where the rebound was and Nathan MacKinnon made no mistake adding to the lead.
At the 11:32 mark of the period, the Devils finally solved Blackwood. After Jack Hughes won the face off, his brother Luke Hughes, fed a pass to Jack, who made no mistake blasting it past Blackwood to cut the deficit. The Avalanche grabbed a late power play and once again made the Devils pay. After a shot took a funky bounce off the boards and then the back of the net, MacKinnon tapped the puck out of midair to make it a 3-1 game.
Moments later, Casey Mittlestadt capitalized on a rebound to extend the lead 4-1 and Logan O’Connor made it 5-1 with under two minutes to go. That’s how things would end and the Devils suffered an unraveling defeat.
Game Notes
- The Devils lethal penalty kill, got taken advantage of. They gave the Avalanche chances with the power play and it allowed them to score two goals and further extended their lead putting the game out of reach late.
- Jack Hughes’ dominance continues. Not only does he have points in three straight games, but he extended his road point streak to 11 games point.
What’s Next?
The Devils road trip continues against the Utah Hockey Club Saturday night.