The New Jersey Devils are in a bad way right now and the Colorado Avalanche is not even close to anything negative so this game should be interesting.
The New Jersey Devils are headed into a matchup that should have fans ready for a great time. They are off to Denver to take on one of the league’s best in the Colorado Avalanche. This game has the potential to be something that Colorado dominates or it could be a game that the Devils play well in and feel good about themselves. Nathan MacKinnon and company come into the game in second place in the Central Division which might be the best division in hockey. They are only one point back of the St. Louis Blues for the top spot in the division.
They roll out four lines that can all hurt you but the MacKinnon line with Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen is one of the two best lines in the National Hockey League. It rivals the “perfection line” that the Boston Bruins use with Patrice Bergeron, Davis Pastrnak, and Brad Marchand. The Avs depth at forwarding is led by their second-line center Nazem Kadri. This team plays with pace and structure which will certainly make things difficult for the Devils to contend with.
If they Devils have a lackluster performance like they’ve been the last few games this is going to be ugly. When the Devils played the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo they were destroyed 7-1 and their stud Jack Eichel owned them. MacKinnon is right there with Eichel in the Hart Trophy race so the Devils need to be wary of that. If they allow number 29 to get going it is going to be a long night.
There are a lot of rumors that connect the New Jersey Devils to the Colorado Avalanche because of a potential deal to send Taylor Hall west. That is sure to be a big part of the storyline in this one but they can’t let that affect them. As of right now, Taylor is a Devils and he needs to concentrate on performing for New Jersey’s team. It has been a distraction all season long but a conclusion to the drama might come sooner than you think.
The Devils are one of the jokes of the NHL but defeating one of the best teams in the NHL would go a long way in them gaining some confidence. Another top-five pick might be on the horizon this year but that doesn’t mean we want them to look lifeless every game. Some of the recent games have been borderline unwatchable so hopefully, that isn’t the case tonight.