Avalanche Fall Short in Late Comeback as Devils Secure 4-3 Victory.
NEWARK, N.J. — The Colorado Avalanche nearly erased a three-goal deficit in the final minutes Tuesday night, but their late offensive push was not enough as the New Jersey Devils held on for a 4-3 victory at Prudential Center. New Jersey goaltender Jake Allen delivered a strong performance, stopping 31 shots to help the Devils secure their fourth home victory in six games. Declan Chisholm provided the decisive goal during the second period, while Colorado suffered its third loss in four games. The Devils opened the scoring at 6:40 of the first period when Luke Evangelista recorded his third goal of the season. Colorado responded at 14:32 as captain Gabriel Landeskog scored his fourth goal, sending the teams into the second period tied at one. New Jersey regained control midway through the second period when Chisholm converted a power-play opportunity at 12:33. His first goal with the Devils gave New Jersey a 2-1 advantage that it maintained for the remainder of the game.
The Devils extended their lead early in the third period when Arseny Gritsyuk scored his fourth goal of the season at 4:39. Jesper Boqvist later added an empty-net goal with 3:55 remaining, pushing New Jersey's advantage to 4-1. Despite facing a three-goal deficit, Colorado continued to battle. Artturi Lehkonen scored at 16:46 of the third period to bring the Avalanche within two goals. He followed with another goal in the closing seconds, recording his team-leading eighth of the season with just 3.5 seconds remaining. However, Colorado ran out of time before completing the comeback.
Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood finished with 37 saves against his former team. Before Tuesday's matchup, Wedgewood had posted a 5-0-0 record and a 1.52 goals-against average against New Jersey. Allen, meanwhile, improved his record to 4-2-0. The 34-year-old netminder was recognized before the game for reaching 500 career NHL appearances earlier this month. Colorado defenseman Brent Burns also continued an impressive individual streak, appearing in his 1,015th consecutive game. The 41-year-old veteran is now 49 games away from matching Phil Kessel's NHL record for consecutive games played. Burns has appeared in 1,589 career NHL games. The defeat marked another frustrating result for Colorado, which entered Tuesday's contest following a 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday. Although the Avalanche showed resilience in the final minutes, their late scoring surge could not overcome New Jersey's earlier advantage.
Colorado will now return home looking to regain momentum after consecutive road losses.
The Avalanche are scheduled to host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, while the Devils will welcome the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.
