To conclude this busy stretch of the early season schedule, the Colorado Avalanche engaged in an immediate rematch with the New Jersey Devils hoping to avenge their 4-3 loss in overtime from Sunday afternoon.
On the back of a Victor Olofsson hat trick the Avalanche did just that in a wild 8-4 finish on Frozen Frenzy night.
The Game
It didn’t take long for the fireworks to commence. Returning from injury, Devils netminder Jacob Markstrom threw the puck over the glass and gave Colorado an early power play. The squad came out with some urgency and actually put up an early power play goal from Martin Nečas just over a minute into the game.
Just a few minutes later the fourth line crafted their own strike as Parker Kelly sprung Zakhar Bardakov on a breakaway and he subsequently buried the puck for his first NHL goal. It was sweet revenge for the 23-year-old Russian as he was drafted by the Devils in the seventh round in 2021. The rest of the first period was uneventful as the teams traded fruitless power plays. Colorado held the 2-0 advantage on the scoreboard despite New Jersey edging in shots 16-12.
Early in the second period it started to become abundantly clear that Markstrom should have stayed on injured reserve as he got beat on a breakaway again. This time Victor Olofsson netted his first goal as an Av to put Colorado up 3-0.
The home team was just getting warmed up as the Avalanche earned a lengthy 5-on-3 in which Nathan MacKinnon converted on. Just before the halfway mark of the game Parker Kelly scored on another breakaway to put Colorado up 5-0 and this game was essentially over.
Or was it?
In the span of five minutes New Jersey pulled themselves back in the game with four unanswered goals. The first from Stefan Noesen on a Brent Burns turnover. Six-foot-six Dougie Hamilton knocked in his own rebound after his shot bounced off Scott Wedgewood’s glove. Some more lax coverage found Dawson Mercer the beneficiary at the net front for their third goal. And New Jersey capped off their rally a few seconds later with Jack Hughes converting on a sharp angle shot at the side of the net. A Nathan MacKinnon power play goal restored order and put the Avalanche back up 6-4 by the conclusion of the second period.
Now the game truly was over as there was nothing more to do than for Victor Olofsson to complete his hat trick in the third period with one on the power play and the other with just a few minutes left in the game. Markstrom was left in net for the entire bloodbath and the Avalanche sealed their 8-4 victory.
Takeaways
The Rematch Prophecy™ strikes again. The principle states that in a quick rematch between two teams the opposite result is expected. That came true in both losses to Utah and Boston last week but also meant the Avalanche should have expected good fortune after their loss in New Jersey for the second part of the home-and-home, and that they did.
Getting to face a rusty goalie was helpful to get both the power play and some secondary scoring some momentum, hopefully it can carry forward to this weekend’s back-to-back. The defense didn’t get to eat much in this contest, they are next to get back on track.
Upcoming
A couple days off and then another potentially spooky weekend back-to-back starting with the Vegas Golden Knights at 2 p.m. MT on Friday, October 31st aka Halloween.
