New Jersey Devils Win Over Colorado Avalanche Have Us Dreaming Of Better Times
By Nick Villano
It looked like it was going to be a game like we’ve seen too many times this season. Cale Makar scored his 21st game of the year to put the Colorado Avalanche up 3-0. The New Jersey Devils were getting stomped. It was unfortunate since the Devils weren’t even playing terribly, but the bounces were not going their way. Then, they did.
Tomas Tatar started the scoring close to the midway point of the second period. He took a shot off the post from Jonas Siegenthaler and put it into an empty net. Darcy Kuemper had been playing out of his mind prior to this, so it was good to finally put one past him.
Less than three minutes later, Ty Smith put in his second goal in as many games. Smith was a healthy scratch for about a week, and he’s been very good since coming back into the lineup. He made it feel realistic the Devils were actually in this game.
Five game minutes after that, the Devils tied the game thanks to a shot from the point by Damon Severson. Nathan Bastian had a beautiful screen on Kuemper, and the puck went top down into the net. The Prudential Center was rocking, and it felt like the Devils had all of the momentum.
Bastian would come up again on the power play, putting the go-ahead goal in the net in the third period. Later, Yegor Sharangovich stopped an attempt when the Avs had a 6-on-4 and threw it 200 feet across the ice for an empty-net goal. This put the game out of reach for the Avalanche, and it became clear the Devils were beating one of the best teams in the league.
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Say what you want to take away from this win. You could say the Avalanche played the night before. Others might point out that hockey is an any given night type of sport. This wasn’t a “lucky win” by the Devils. They dominated the high-danger chances (16-4 at 5v5 and 18-9 overall). The Devils just looked like the better team.
And this was without Nico Hischier. The Devils were down their captain who came out of the lineup with a lower-body injury. They did this against a team with more points than any team in the NHL. Is this a sign of things to come? Who knows, but for the first time this season it seems feasible that better days are ahead.