No one loves playing the New Jersey Devils more than Mackenzie Blackwood.
In their last meeting with Blackwood, the ex-Devils goaltender was still a member of the San Jose Sharks. He blanked New Jersey in a 4-0 Sharks victory, recording a shutout.
He nearly replicated that performance with his new squad, the Colorado Avalanche, in a tough loss to swallow. Sheldon Keefe seemingly had no answers as he continuously shuffled his lines. Yet, he couldn’t squeeze out the offense he was seeking from his club.
After coming out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break with two losses on the road, the Avalanche were shot out of a cannon on home ice. Within the first three minutes of the game, Jake Allen was forced to make a handful of strong saves. Dougie Hamilton prevented an early Colorado lead, swiping a puck away from Nathan Mackinnon who had a wide-open net under five minutes into the first period. The Avalanche held the shot advantage 8-1 just five minutes into the tilt.
After the Devils to convert on the game’s first power play, the Avalanche made New Jersey pay.
Colorado’s top line got the puck deep in the Devils’ zone on the first shift after their penalty kill. The Devils lost the puck battle below Allen’s goal line, and Artturi Lehkonen scored from the top of the Devils’ crease to open the scoring.
The Devils seemingly dug themselves a deeper hole when Stefan Noesen took a minor penalty, and then Jack Hughes sent the puck over the glass, giving the Avalanche a 5-on-3 for over 60 seconds.
However, New Jersey was able to escape unscathed.
The Devils went to the power play one more time before the end of the first period after Mackenzie Blackwood played the puck outside the trapezoid. However, they couldn’t convert and went into the first intermission down a goal.
The second period was a better one for the Devils. They tilted the ice their way and controlled the rubber far more than they did in the opening frame.
However, they couldn’t solve Blackwood, who stopped all 10 of the Devils’ shots he faced.
Near the final moments of the middle frame, the Avs began to take control of the game back. Yet, Allen was equal to the task and sent the game into the second intermission the same way they did the first.
The Devils played short a man early in the third after Luke Hughes was called for a slashing minor on Lehkonen in the Devils’ zone.
On the ensuing power play, Mackinnon doubled the Avalanche’s lead, scoring his 22nd goal of the season.
Blackwood’s shutout bid against his former team ended, however. Luke Hughes fed brother, Jack in the slot after the Devils won an offensive zone faceoff and scored on a one-timer, making it a 2-1 game.
However, a tripping call on Ondrej Palat sent the Avalanche back to the man advantage.
Mackinnon made quick work of the Devils’ PK unit, scoring his second goal on the night—again on the power play—to cushion Colorado’s lead once more.
Back at even strength, Casey Mittelstadt and Logan O’Connor added individual tallies as the clock wound down, and the Devils went on to lose 5-1.
On the fifth goal by O’Connor, Keefe pulled Jake Allen, who stormed off the ice and to the locker room in visible frustration.
The Devils head coach later clarified Allen’s swift exit was due to cramps.
Nico Daws played the final two minutes of the third period but wasn’t called upon to make a save.
Allen ended the night stopping 31 out of 36 shots he faced.
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