Jack Hughes scored the Devils lone goal in a 5-1 loss to the Avalanche.
DENVER, CO – For a second time this season, the Devils were bested by a former goaltender in a Colorado Avalanche uniform.
On Wednesday night, former Devil Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves as Colorado defeated the Devils 5-1.
Jake Allen, who manned the Devils net, gave his team every opportunity to find their footing in this game, keeping it 1-0 for most of the evening.
“He gave us a chance,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We were in the game because of him. We didn’t score enough for him which has unfortunately been the story when Jake has been in for too many games this year.”
Arturri Lehkonen opened the scoring with a backhand in close on Jake Allen at 8:54 of the first period to take a 1-0 lead. It wasn’t until 2:57 of the third before another goal would crack the goal line.
With Luke Hughes in the box for a slashing penalty, Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon picked up a loose puck off a rebound, firing a wrist shot past Allen. MacKinnon’s goal built a 2-0 lead for the Avalanche before the Devils could solve Blackwood thanks to a familial connection.
Jack Hughes won a face-off, clean, to Blackwood’s right before getting the puck back to his brother Luke. With Luke buying some added time holding onto the puck, Jack found an open lane, to rip the puck past Blackwood off the one-timer from Luke. The goal was Jack’s 27th of the season and pulled the Devils within one at 8:28 of the third. Luke picked up the lone assist, his 20th of the season.
The Avalanche pushed back after Jack’s goal, with MacKinnon scoring a second power-play goal, Casey Mittelstadt scoring the 4-1 goal, and Logan O’Connor adding the Avalanche’s fifth goal of the night.
Allen held the fort for so much of this game, giving his team every opportunity to even things up before the dam broke in the final five minutes of the game.
“Just gave up too much, slipped away in the third and that’s only because Jaker was standing on his head in the first two periods,” Johanathan Kovacevic said. “I think we gave up a lot of Grade A opportunities and against that team, they’re dangerous, you give them enough, they’re going to find a way to put it in the net.”
Here are some observations from the game:
• Jack Hughes’ goal was his 11th straight road game with a point this season, and he now has nine goals in his last 10 games.
• The MacKinnon power play was just the second power play goal the Devils have given up in their last 28 penalty kills. What has so often been their bread-and-butter, the Devils penalty killers were just 2-for-4 against Colorado.
“Early in the game it could get out of hand if the penalty kill doesn’t do it’s job,” Keefe said, evaluating the penalty kill against Colorado. “That 5-on-3 is a huge kill for us. They’ve got world-class talent out there and the PK did it’s job. Jake (Allen) certainly supported them, but you just give those guys too many opportunities and things start to go their way. That’s exactly what happened, especially the first penalty in the third period, that’s a tough one. You’re having such a hard time scoring goals and you give them a second one, you give them a power play and a second goal, it’s an uphill climb from there.”
• Midway through the second period, two tweaks were made to the forward combinations. Nico Hischier, who started the game with Tomas Tatar and Stefan Noesen on his wings, swapped wingers with Justin Dowling.
The line combinations looked as follows:
Palat-Hughes-Bratt
Meier-Hischier-Mercer
Tatar-Dowling-Noesen
Cotter-Haula-Bastian
Despite not being able to finish on their chances, the Devils certainly found more jump in the second period.
The game opened up as New Jersey were able to better access their transition game and execute their clean breakouts through the neutral zone. They looked a far more connected group in the second, finding their footing with more offensive zone pressure.
New Jersey had plenty more offensive zone presence and did a much better job in the defensive zone. The Devils were noticeably better at getting the puck out from under Colorado’s pressure, limiting the Avalanche’s chances, limiting opportunities at second or third chances on Jake Allen.
• The momentum did shift toward the end of the second as the Avs tried to build on their 1-0 lead, but the Devils’ luck was the Avalanche’s misfortune. Twice, as the Avs put an onslaught of pucks at Jake Allen, either their second attempts or a puck trickling through Allen went just wide of the net. By mere inches, the Devils escaped the second period down just 1-0 and in position to make a comeback.
• The Devils were lucky to come out of the first period down only 1-0. The Lehkonen goal came right at the goal mouth on his backhand, but the Avalanche completely dominated the period, particularly in the opening 10 minutes. The Avs jumped out to a 7-1 shot lead after just four minutes of play, forcing Jake Allen to make some big saves to give his team an opportunity.
• Timo Meier, on the second anniversary of his trade to New Jersey, played his 600th NHL game. He became just the fifth Swiss-born player to reach 600 games in the National Hockey League.
• The Avalanche were backstopped by former Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, who played parts of five seasons in New Jersey, appearing in 152 games.
• Earlier this season, with former Devil Scott Wedgewood in net, the Avalanche also beat the Devils, in New Jersey.
