Wednesday night’s game in Denver on February 26th saw the Devils struggling to maintain pace with the Avalanche, resulting in a 5-1 loss that demonstrated Colorado’s offensive strength. A back-and-forth rhythm of wins and losses has plagued the New Jersey Devils, a trend that persisted with their 5-1 loss to the Avalanche. Colorado, on the other hand, broke a two-game losing streak, with Nathan MacKinnon contributing two goals. Jack Hughes provided the Devils’ only goal, marking his fourth in the past five games. The Avalanche will take on the Minnesota Wild on Friday at Ball Arena, and the Devils will head to Delta Center to take on the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday.
New Jersey Devils Lineup:
Palat – Hughes – Bratt
Tatar – Hischier – Noesen
Meier – Dowling – Mercer
Cotter – Haula – Bastian
Dillon – Hamilton
Pesce – Kovacevic
Hughes – Casey
Allen
Daws
Colorado Avalanche Lineup:
Lehkonen – MacKinnon – Necas
Drouin – Mittelstadt – Nichushkin
Colton – Drury – Kiviranta
Wood – Kelly – O’Connor
Toews – Makar
Girard – Kylington
de Haan – Malinski
Blackwood
Wedgewood
Artturi Lehkonen opened the scoring at 11:06 of the first period with his 24th goal of the season to put the Avalanche ahead 1-0 when he beat Jake Allen five-hole from the top of the crease with a backhand. He received a pass from Martin Necas, who had forced a turnover by Brett Pesce, who had gotten the puck from Tomas Tatar from the left corner, behind the net, passing it out to Lehkonen in front.
After a scoreless second frame, Nathan MacKinnon added to Colorado’s lead, making it 2-0 early into the third for his 22nd of the season with a power-play goal. At 17:03, MacKinnon scored from along the goal line into an open net after Jake Allen had been unable to track the rebound of the initial one-timer by Martin Necas from the top of the left circle. Jack Hughes cut it to 2-1 for his 27th goal of the season when he got the puck from his brother, Luke, and fired a one-timer from the high slot under the glove of Mackenzie Blackwood with 11:32 on the clock. Scoring his second power-play goal of the night, Mackinnon made it a 3-1 lead at 5:46 after a shot by Cale Makar hit off the end boards and the back of the net, and Nathan batted it out of the air at the left post, finding the back of the net for the third Colorado tally. Casey Mittelstadt shoveled in a backhand from the bottom of the right circle to push it to 4-1 from the bottom of the right circle with 3:20 on the clock with his 10th goal of the season. With little time left to play, Logan O’Connor struck for his seventh of the season when he redirected Parker Kelly’s centering pass at the top of the crease for the 5-1 final.
Dawson Mercer on where things kind of slipped away and Jake Allen: “I think they just had a lot of pressure there, obviously, and then those quick goals that they had there gave them some more life after Jack put one in. We’re hoping just to stick with it and make a push, but they pushed back. …He played unbelievable. He kept us in the game the full time, especially early on there when they had a bunch of shots right off the get-go.”
Game Notes:
– Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves for Colorado, and Jake Allen had allowed five goals on 36 shots before leaving the game due to cramping. Nico Daws took his place between the pipes, not facing a shot.
– This had been Timo Meier’s 600th NHL career game.
– Martin Necas recorded three assists, and Cale Makar picked up a pair of assists. Nathan MacKinnon recorded two goals and an assist.
– The Avalanche had lost two straight games since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off.
– The Devils have alternated wins and losses in their past 10 games (5-5-0).
– CO: 34-24-2, NJ: 32-22-6
– Artturi Lehkonen scored his 20th goal since the first of December, which makes him fourth in the league behind Leon Draisaitl (26), David Pastrnak (22), and Mark Scheifele (21).
– With his three-point night, MacKinnon had extended his home point streak to 15 games (10 goals, 14 assists), and also scored his 100th power-play goal, which ties him with Mikko Rantanen for the fifth-most in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history. Only Joe Sakic (205), Michel Goulet (147), Milan Hejduk (140), and Peter Stastny (120) have more.
– After missing 21 games with a lower-body injury, Valeri Nichushkin returned to the lineup. He finished with five shots in 17:46 of ice time.
ITR 27: Trade Season Begins – Inside The Rink
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