RECAP: Devils Shutout in Final Game of Western Road Trip

Devils were shutout 3-0 by the Avalanche Sunday afternoon. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Game Summary

The New Jersey Devils were shutout for the fifth time this season thanks to a 3-0 loss in Colorado. The Devils will now return home after posting a 2-4-0 record on a six-game road trip. 

The first period doomed the Devils. Tyson Barrie tallied both of the Avalanche’s goals each from peculiar plays.  The first was a broken play where he ripped one under the crossbar, and the second was an own goal by Travis Zajac. Unfortunately, the Devils were unable to mount any serious pressure in the next two periods. Nathan McKinnon iced the game with an empty net goal with just under two minutes to go.

Goaltender Philippe Grubauer earned a well-deserved 22 save shutout win for the Avalanche. Cory Schneider was on the losing end with a 31 save performance. Overall, a great showing for each netminder. 

Courtesy of Naturalstattrick.com

Game Notes

  • The Devils offense was woeful. They were only able to generate 34 shot attempts. And as you can see above via a heat map, very few of those shot attempts were of high quality. Specifically, the Devils only had nine registered scoring chances. These struggles are especially frustrating when you get such a stellar performance from your netminder. 
  • Goaltender Cory Schneider was once again terrific. His performance last night marked the fourth consecutive game where he has posted a .900 save percentage or higher. The Avalanche generated a whopping 20 scoring chances against Schneider, and he stood tall. As has happened a lot this season, the two goals scored against him were out of his control or thanks to lousy defense. Overall, another wonderful performance for Schneider. 

  • Defenseman Colton White struggled once again. He totaled 14:34 of 5-on-5 ice time and had a large role in the first goal against. Coming into the game, he owned a Corsi For % (CF%) of 34.5 percent and a Relative Corsi For % (CF% Rel) of -20.5 percent. These are both atrocious numbers and certainly didn’t improve after this game, as he owned a CF% of 36.00 percent and CF% rel of -6.37 percent. 

Next Devils Game: March 19th vs. Washington  

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