Avalanche Shut Out 1-0 By Devils

The Colorado Avalanche suffered a 1-0 shut out loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night at Prudential Center. The matchup marked the second contest of a three-game road trip in the Tri-State. The Avalanche are now 4-3-1 on the season. The last time the Avalanche were shut out - including their 20 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs games - was last season on March 10 by a score of 2-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes.

For the Avalanche, Pavel Francouz made 22 saves on 23 shots in the shutout loss. Colorado went 0-for-6 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
For New Jersey, Jack Hughes scored on the power play the game's only strike and Vitek Vanecek made 24 saves.

GAME SUMMARY:

Friday's game between the Avalanche and Devils featured tight-checking hockey. Colorado's defense was solid in holding off the looks from New Jersey's league-high producers in shots on goal (39.7 shots averaged per game) as the Devils only put up 23 shots, but the New Jersey successfully cooled off Colorado's power play which was red hot as it entered the game and converting at a 50% clip.
After the first 40 minutes of play, the Avalanche and Devils remained locked at a 0-0 score. New Jersey outshot Colorado 8-4 in the first period, but the Avalanche held a 10-7 edge in the second period. Colorado's power play was stifled to 0-for-4 through two periods, but conversely killed off two Devils' power plays.
Just 2:10 into the game, Cale Makar wired a promising shot on net that struck the cross bar. The Devils took their first power play of the frame 2:38 - as Tomas Tatar was called for hooking - and at the end of the period at 18:46 as Fabian Zetterlund was assessed with tripping.
Colorado killed off a penalty at 12:10 on a Josh Manson interference call and was able to overturn a New Jersey goal shortly after. The Devils had broken the puck out of their zone and beat Francouz as Miles Wood redirect a feed from Michael McLeod over the glove of Francouz. But upon review - and an immediate challenge by the Avalanche - the goal was overturned.
The second period featured an exchanging of chances and end-to-end play from both sides, but neither team found a way to score the game's icebreaker. New Jersey received a Grade A chance after killing off a Miles Wood hi-sticking penalty at 6:51. As Wood exited the penalty box, he was sprung for a partial breakaway and as he jetted towards the net and fired off a shot, Francouz came up with the clutch save.
The game's icebreaker finally came early in the third period as New Jersey converted on it third man advantage of the game. Bowen Byram put the Devils on the power play 1:50 into the third period for cross-checking. On the Devils' power play, Jesper Bratt dished the puck out to the left faceoff circle to Hughes. The New Jersey centerman wired a low wirst shot past Francouz to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead.
Despite receiving a power play - with one minute left on the clock - the Avalanche were unable to convert on their sixth man advantage and ultimately, suffered a 1-0 loss.

FRANCOUZ STIL IN SEARCH OF FIRST WIN:

Francouz made his third start of the season and is still in search of his first win this season as his record dropped to 0-3-0.
On the first shift of the game, New Jersey tested Francouz with a shot from the left wall, but he gloved it down and recovered it safely after bobbling it in the blue paint. Despite being tested with eight shots in the opening frame, the Avalanche netminder was sharp from the start and denied all eight, excluding the tip-in from Wood that was overturned for offside.
The Czech netminder continued his sharp play into the second period where he held off seven shots. Francouz's biggest save occurred shortly after New Jersey killed Wood's penalty just under the midway mark. But as Wood wired a shot on net, Francouz denied the look to keep the game scoreless.
Midway through the third period, Colorado tested Vanecek with a solid look as Evan Rodrigues was sprung at New Jersey's blueline and drove to the net, but following a nifty deke, Vanecek made the stop at the near post to preserve his clean sheet.

NOTEWORTHY:

• Valeri Nichushkin missed Friday's game against New Jersey with a lower-body injury. The Rusisan winger leads Colorado with seven goals this season - tied for the second most in the NHL with Carolina's Andrei Svechnikov and Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos. Nichushkin has has compiled 12 points (7G, 5A) in seven games.
• Francouz made his third start of the season and his record fell to 0-3-0.
• Colorado finished the game 0-for-6 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
• Jacob MacDonald drew back in the lineup and played alongside Mikhail Maltsev and Dryden Hunt.
• Nichushkin and Kurtis MacDermid were scratches for Colorado.

NEXT GAME:

The Avalanche conclude their Tri-State stretch as they take on the New York Islanders on Saturday night at UBS Arena. Puck drop between the Avalanche and Isles begins at 5:30 p.m. MT.