Colorado Avalanche (15-13-0) @ New Jersey Devils (18-9-2)
5 p.m. MT | Prudential Center | Watch: Altitude2, NHL Network, Altitude+ | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)
In their fourth of a five-game road trip, the Avalanche travel to New Jersey and face the Devils in a rematch of the 2001 Stanley Cup Final. This is the first of two meetings between the clubs, as they’ll meet in Denver on February 26.
Latest Result (COL): COL 2, DET 1
Latest Result (NJD): SEA 2, NJD 3
A Motor City Victory
The Avalanche beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday. Valeri Nichushkin scored his sixth goal of the season, Cale Makar added his ninth and Alexandar Georgiev made 29 saves. Nichushkin opened the scoring with a wrist shot from the slot at 10:48 of the first period, posting his third goal in the last two contests. At 2:44 of the second period, Makar doubled Colorado’s lead with a power-play goal and took sole possession of first place in goals by defensemen this season. Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen picked up the assists on the goal, making it the 100th instance where those two players both assisted on the same goal. Detroit cut its deficit in half when Lucas Raymond scored at 18:13 of the middle frame, sending the Avs to the second intermission up one goal. Late in the third, the Red Wings pulled their goalie and peppered Georgiev with shot after shot, but the Avs netminder stood tall and helped the Burgundy and Blue win 2-1 and improve to 2-1-0 on this road trip.
Colorado’s Terrific Trio
MacKinnon and Rantanen’s stellar starts to the season make Avalanche one of two teams in the NHL with multiple players in the top 10 in points this season, along with the Edmonton Oilers (Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl). MacKinnon leads the NHL in assists (32) and is third in points (41) while Rantanen is tied for seventh in goals (15) and tied for ninth in points (36).
Speaking of stellar, Makar leads NHL defensemen in goals (9), assists (26) and points (35). Among all NHL skaters, the Alberta native is tied for fifth in assists (25) and 11th in points (34).
History
In 44 previous regular-season meetings, the Avalanche are 22-18-4 against the Devils. They’ve met once in the playoffs, with the Avs winning four games to three in the aforementioned 2001 Stanley Cup Final.
Home Cooking
The Devils beat the Seattle Kraken 3-2 at the Prudential Center on Friday night. Former Av and current Kraken forward Andre Burakovsky opened the scoring at 10:16 of the first period before New Jersey’s Luke Hughes evened the score at 12:27 of the opening frame. The Kraken took a 2-1 lead 3:41 of the second with a power-play goal from Shane Wright but the Devils would answer again when Jesper Bratt scored at 8:03 of the middle frame. New Jersey took the lead and wouldn’t give it up when Timo Meier scored at 53 seconds of the third period.
Turning It Up on the Turnpike
MacKinnon has posted 19 points (7g/12a) in 19 games against the Devils, including 16 points (6g/10a) in his last 10 games against them,
In six previous contests against New Jersey, Makar has recorded eight points (2g/6a), including four points (1g/3a) in two games last season.
Rantanen has registered 17 points (9g/8a) in 14 games against the Devils, including four points (3g/1a) in a pair of contests last season.
Devils Doing Work
Bratt leads the Devils in assists (23) and points (35).
Jack Hughes is second on the team in assists (22) and points (33).
Nico Hischier leads New Jersey in goals (15) and is third in points (27).
A Numbers Game
6
MacKinnon is six points from tying Michel Goulet (946 points) for the third-most points in franchise history.
235
The Avalanche are fourth in the league with 235 high-danger shots on goal.
9
The Avalanche lead the NHL with nine wins in one-goal games. They are now 9-1-0 this season in such contests.
Quote That Left a Mark
“It’s gonna take a gutsy performance, there’s no question about it. Second leg of the back-to-back, we’ll do whatever we have to do, deploy our guys however we have to deploy them to try and carve out that game. All I can say is that it’s gonna take a lot of will and a lot of desire and a gutsy performance to get that one done tomorrow. But I think we’re capable of doing it and building on what we did tonight.”
-- Head Coach Jared Bednar on facing the Devils in the second of a back-to-back
