Wednesday night, the New Jersey Devils traveled to Colorado to face the Avalanche for the first time this season. Just as he did earlier in the season with the San Jose Sharks, Mackenzie Blackwood dominated the Devils in a 5-1 victory. He stopped 24 of 25 in the contest. Colorado improved to 34-24-2 with the win; the Devils fall to 32-22-6.
The Avalanche were absolutely flying right off the bat. After numerous chances, they broke through with an Artturi Lehkonen goal to make it 1-0. The Devils successfully killed off a 5-on-3 to prevent the deficit from extending any further in the first, but it was the Avs who had all the momentum.
In the second, the Devils started to get their feet under them and generate, but they couldn’t convert. First, Blackwood stoned Jack Hughes on a breakaway. Then Paul Cotter rang the crossbar. Later in the frame, the Avs gained back some momentum and Jake Allen stood tall to keep it 1-0.
The Devils had a couple good chances to start the second, but once again couldn’t finish as Blackwood stood tall. Then Nathan Mackinnon doubled the lead on the power play.
MacKinnon cleaning up on the power play 🧹#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/2dbbLsmQUp
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) February 27, 2025
A few minutes later, Jack Hughes gave the Devils life as he one-timed a puck past Blackwood to make it 2-1. But once again, Mackinnon struck on the power play to restore the two-goal lead. He batted a puck out of mid-air from behind the net at a near impossible angle. Then just over two minutes later, Jonathan Drouin scored for the icing on the cake. But if that wasn’t enough, Logan O’Connor scored with just over a minute left, making it 5-1. Allen stormed down the tunnel and Nico Daws played the last 100-ish seconds before the final horn.
The Devils will have a couple days off before they play in Utah on Saturday; the Avalanche remain home on Friday to face the Minnesota Wild.
