The Colorado Avalanche had the puck often enough to make a first-period lead feel within reach. Instead, they walked to the intermission down 1-0 to the New Jersey Devils, undone by a missed chance, a power-play letdown, and the sight of Josh Manson leaving the ice with a lower-body injury.
Colorado’s best opening came with nine minutes left in the period, when Logan O’Connor found a loose puck in the low slot with the net staring back at him. It was the kind of chance that can change a game in a hurry, but Brett Pesce reached in with a hook that knocked O’Connor down and wiped out the opportunity. The infraction did send the Avalanche to the power play, but they couldn’t make it count.
That failure opened the door for New Jersey to swing the period the other way. Colorado turned the puck over, the Devils countered on a two-on-one, and Connor Brown carried the rush before faking the pass and firing a shot that went off Mackenzie Blackwood and into the net for a 1-0 lead.
The period also featured a heavy early hit from Brenden Dillon, who stepped into Nazem Kadri along the boards and left the Colorado center visibly shaken as he tried to collect himself.
Then came the moment that clearly raised the biggest concern for the Avalanche. With a little more than four minutes left in the first, Manson went down near the Colorado bench. He tried several times to open the gate while on the ice, then eventually got through before a trainer helped him head down the tunnel.
Colorado finished the opening 20 minutes trailing 1-0 despite holding the edge in shots on goal, 10-__. The scoreboard was bad enough. Manson’s status made the first period feel even heavier.
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