Denver, CO — The New Jersey Devils are among the NHL’s hottest teams, both in success and headlines, after winning games and the Connor Hellebuyck sweepstakes. The Colorado Avalanche are a perennial powerhouse with superstar talent, but they’ve struggled with inconsistent performances and disappointing defeats lately. The Avs welcomed Nicolas Roy back to the lineup, finally deploying a relatively healthy forward group. How will he and the Avalanche fare against the Devils, who are on their second
back-to-back?
The Game
We got a look at the new bottom-nine forward lines, with Kadri slotting back into the third-center role. Nic Roy’s return as a second-line winger seems to have ended (at least for now) the experiment of Nazem Kadri on the wing. With Roy’s return, we also saw Fedor Svechkov slotted at 4C.
Both clubs got off the blocks slowly, with a combined two shots on net in the first five minutes. Colorado got the better of the two shots, with Jake Allen turning away Lehkonen on the doorstep after a slow-developing play from MacKinnon and Necas ended with a chance.
The Avalanche got their first power play of the night 11 minutes in when Brett Pesce hooked Logan O’Connor. Unfortunately for the Avalanche, they once again allowed a short-handed tally instead of capitalizing on the extra man. Connor Brown made it 1-0 for the Devils at 12:21 in the first period.
The healthy Avalanche took a hit later in the first frame, with Josh Manson struggling to get off the ice before heading straight down the tunnel with a noticeable limp. He did not return to the bench for the second period.
The first ten minutes of the second frame played out like a game between a team on the second of a back-to-back and a struggling group.
The second half of the middle frame was a bit more exciting, with the Avalanche earning and cashing in on a power play this time. Gabe Landeskog scored on a back-door play from Jaden Schwartz at 10:58 to restore the tie. Landeskog’s goal marks his fifth of the season, putting him on pace for 32 goals.
The Devils earned two power plays late in the second period, setting up a 5-on-3 for the final 30 seconds, but the Avalanche survived.
The third period started with one second left on O’Connor’s penalty and 1:28 on Brent Burns’ penalty, so New Jersey got the briefest 5-on-3 before returning to a one-man advantage. The Avs would inevitably kill it off.
It didn’t take long for Nazem Kadri to get the Avalanche on the board again after a beautiful net-front pass from Nicolas Roy found his stick. Kadri had no doubt, with time, space, and an open net. The Avalanche led 2-1 at 2:45 in the third.
Next, Parker Kelly got in on the depth scoring. Both goals two and three came off of assists for Brent Burns, but this one was all Parker. He broke in with Logan O’Connor, looked for him, but ultimately decided to fire one on. It beat Allen cleanly, giving Colorado the 3-1 lead at 3:47.
Colorado really started to take over, as Nathan MacKinnon and Jaden Schwartz scored 3o seconds apart. MacKinnon’s came on a patented MacKinnon speed play, and Schwartz scored after Sam Malinski’s shot created a juicy rebound. The Avs led 5-1 at 12:30 in the third.
Connor Brown got his second of the night in the throwaway portion of the third, making it 5-1 for the Avalanche, and that’s how it ended.
From the Room
I told head coach Jared Bednar that Artturi Lehkonen can be heard communicating on the PK from the press box, and I asked how important that is to killing penalties. “I think it’s important in every aspect of the game. The more vocal you can be, the better off you are gonna be. Communication eliminates confusion.” Adding this regarding Lehkonen: “Lehky’s pretty steady with it cause he’s an intelligent guy and he knows it helps.”
Gabe Landeskog said Cale Makar looked up the all-time hits leaders in Avalanche history and shared that information with Gabe and the rest of the group. Landeskog said, “I thought we did a good job of sticking with it; we were hungry, we were on pucks… we wanted to make sure we just bounced back,” when asked about the Avalanche’s response.
Nazem Kadri also spoke with the media after the game and said, “I was definitely yelling for it for sure,” when asked if Nic Roy saw him on his tie-breaking goal in the third, and added, “That was a great play by him.”
Parker Kelly had some interesting words about the penalty called on Logan O’Connor, which seemed like a relatively soft cross-checking minor. “Just unfortunate for sure kinda takes the wind out of your sails cause I felt like we were hummin’… then two calls that are just like ‘what?’… like I said it’s a tough job, and they’re doing the best they can out there.”
Takeaways
It’s hard not to be negative about a top power-play unit that gives up more goals than it scores on a given night. Short-handed goals against have been a theme since last season, with the Avalanche leading the way in 2025-26. This hot-button issue won’t go away if the Avalanche top unit can’t start filling the net.
It’s good to see the Avalanche bounce back and “return the favor,” as Parker Kelly put it post-game; this time, New Jersey was on the second of a back-to-back, and Colorado brought home the win.
Nic Roy’s return was noticeable almost immediately, starting with his assist on the Kadri goal. It was nice to see the forward group settle a bit with Kadri back at center.
Up Next
The Calgary Flames come to town for another quick-turnaround rematch on Saturday at Ball Arena!
