The Devils walked into Colorado carrying all the wrong baggage for a night like this, and they got played accordingly. On Wednesday, New Jersey was overwhelmed, outshot 44-22 and beaten 5-2 in a game that looked nothing like the stretch that had been powering its dominant wins.
It started badly and never really settled down. The Devils’ lone goal came short-handed, when Connor Brown put the puck off Cale Makar’s skate to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead. Brown later added the other Devils goal on a backhand with less than five minutes remaining, but by then the night had long since tilted the other way.
The equalizer was especially tough for New Jersey to stomach. After roughly 1:50 of a solid penalty kill - including Luke Hughes completely outworking Nathan MacKinnon in the corner - Colorado eventually broke through with a tic-tac-toe sequence that ended in a Gabriel Landeskog goal.
New Jersey still had one last window to grab control before the period ended. The Devils earned a 5-on-3 for a little over 30 seconds and created chances, but former teammate Mackenzie Blackwood shut the door, particularly on an Anthony Mantha tip right as time expired. Once those power plays went by without a goal, the game had the feel of one that was slipping away for good.
That’s the reality of a brutal spot on the schedule. Colorado has been excellent in these situations, going 20-5 over its last 25 games when facing an opponent on the second half of a back-to-back with travel in between.
Add the thin air in Denver, and the challenge only gets steeper. The Devils also didn’t get the kind of rest that helps on a night like this, getting into the airport after midnight local time.
The timing made the loss easier to understand, even if it didn’t make it any prettier. New Jersey had just beaten the Avalanche 4-3 last week and controlled most of that game.
This time, there was no such push from the Devils. Colorado, dealing with its own second-half-back-to-back situation, found enough offense in the third period, while Blackwood did what he often seems to do against his former team and gave the Avalanche the kind of steadiness they needed.
For the Devils, this was a night to rinse and move on from. The effort wasn’t there, the chances didn’t land when they needed them, and the circumstances were stacked against them from the start.
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