Game Preview: Devils Visit Avalanche to Wrap Up Road Trip

There’s no love lost between Miles Wood and the New Jersey Devils off the ice.

Wood and his former Devils teammates went to dinner in Colorado on Monday night ahead of their first tilt against each other on Tuesday. Unfortunately, dinner and tonight’s matchup won’t include Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier who are both back in New Jersey receiving treatment from the Devils’ athletic staff.

The Devils roll into Colorado with a bit of a new-look top six. Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald explained that New Jersey will need to, “Playing committed hockey allows you to stay in a game.” He went on to say he’s unsure if the Devils are there quite yet.

New Jersey would be hard-pressed to find a better test than the Avalanche. Colorado comes into Tuesday night 7-3-0, collecting 14 of a possible 20 points so far this season.

Let’s dive into the Devils’ matchup against the Avs tonight.

Time: 10:00 PM      Watch/Stream: TNT      Listen: DEVILS HOCKEY NET

Projected Devils Lineup

Ondrej Palat-Dawson Mercer-Timo Meier

Tyler Toffoli-Michael McLeod-Jesper Bratt

Max Willman-Erik Haula-Curtis Lazar

Alexander Holtz-Chris Tierney-Nathan Bastian

Jonas Siegenthaler-Dougie Hamilton

Kevin Bahl-John Marino

Brendan Smith-Luke Hughes

Vitek Vanecek

Akira Schmid

Projected Avalanche Lineup

Jonathan Drouin-Nathan MacKinnon-Mikko Rantanen

Arturi Lehkonen-Ryan Johansen-Valeri Nichushkin

Miles Wood-Ross Colton-Logan O’Connor

Andrew Cogliano-Ondrej Pavel-Tomas Tatar

Devon Toews-Cale Makar

Bowen Byram-Samuel Girard

Jack Johnson-Josh Manson

Alexander Georgiev

Ivan Prosvetov

Last Game

Without the services of their top centers, the Devils defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Sunday. Depth and goaltending prevailed in Chicago as the Devils received goals from Dawson Mercer (on the power play), Max Willman, and Curtis Lazar. Chicago attempted to remain as close to New Jersey as possible with goals from former Devil Taylor Hall and Ryan Donato. However, strong goaltending by Vitek Vanecek, who stopped 32 pucks, kept Chicago at bay. That includes an incredible diving stop on Tyler Johnson that is sure to receive save-of-the-year votes. Michael McLeod hit the empty net goal as the clock ran out to secure two points for New Jersey. Arvid Soderblom turned in his best game of the season making 37 saves on 40 shots.

Player to Watch

Dawson Mercer is tonight’s player to watch against the Avalanche. The third-year pro recorded his first point of the season on Sunday scoring a goal on the power play. In a new elevated role, Mercer’s power-play goal snapped a 10-game goal drought. The goal also registered Mercer’s 99th career point (45g-54a). A single point in tonight’s contest would make the 22-year-old forward the third-fastest active player who earned 100 PTS with the Devils (debuted with the Devils) behind Nico Hischier (153 GP) and Jack Hughes (160 GP), per NHL Pr. Mercer could become the 14th youngest player who earned his 100th career point in franchise history.

Devils vs. Avalanche

According to Devils PR, “The Devils and Colorado face-off for the first of two matchups this season.

New Jersey recorded a 2-0-0 record vs Colorado last season and were one of five teams (SEA, BOS, PIT, TBL) that were 2-0-0 against the Avs last season.

Last season marked the first time since 2017-18 that the Devils swept Colorado in a season series.

ALL-TIME vs COLORADO/QUE

Record: 41-43-8-4
Home: 25-18-4-2
Road: 16-25-4-2

DID YOU KNOW…

The most goals in franchise history earned in a single game vs the Avs/QUE was nine goals, twice, (vs QUE), last, Mar. 10, 1990, in a 9-3 win.

The most goals that the Devils allowed in a single game vs the Avs/QUE is nine, which happened on Dec. 14, 1985, after a 9-3 defeat at Quebec.

The most shots that Jersey earned in a single game vs Colorado is 43, three times, last logged on Mar. 8, 2022, at COL in a 5-3 win.

The most shots that the Devils allowed in a single game vs the Avs/QUE is 43, on Jan. 29, 1983, at Quebec in a 6-4 loss.

The last time the Devils shut out the Avs was on Oct. 28, 2022, in a 1-0 win at the Rock (V. Vanecek, 24 saves).

The last time the Avs shut out the Devils was on Mar. 17, 2019, in a 3-0 loss at Colorado.”

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Fri. Nov. 10, vs WSH, 7:00 P.M. E.T.
Tue. Nov. 14, at WPG, 8:00 P.M. E.T.
Thu. Nov, 16, at PIT, 7:00 P.M. E.T.
Sat. Nov. 18, vs NYR, 7:00 P.M. E.T.
Wed. Nov. 22, at DET, 7:00 P.M. E.T.

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