Devils Score 5 Unanswered in Dramatic Comeback vs. Avalanche | GAME STORY

It could be a landmark victory for the Devils franchise. A signature win in the rebuild.
In a game against the team with the best record in the NHL, a team that has 42 more points in the standings than New Jersey, and a team that had a 3-0 lead in the second period, the underdog Devils, playing without their captain Nico Hischier, scored five unanswered goals to triumph over the juggernaut Colorado Avalanche, 5-3, Tuesday night at Prudential Center.
The Avalanche built a 3-0 lead with two power-play goals by Nate MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, and another tally from Cale Makar. Colorado had been 23-0-0 when leading after one period and hadn't lost a game when leading by three goals. Until...
Tomas Tatar started the comeback with his 10th of the season. Ty Smith and Damon Severson, on the power play, followed in the middle frame to tie the game at 3-3. In the third period Nathan Bastian broke the tie with his own man-advantage score.
Yegor Sharangovich sealed it with an empty-net goal, shorthanded no less.
"We hope so moving forward that this is one of those (signature) wins," Severson said. "You hate to go down by two or three in the second. It's one of those things that you forget wins like this because Colorado is such a solid team. They're not an easy out for sure. And we weren't going to be an easy out for them because of the standings and the way they looked."
"When you look at it, we've played in a lot games like this where you get down and we battled back but don't quite make it all the way back or win the game," head coach Lindy Ruff said. "There was just a belief that we were going to come back."

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The Devils continue their four-game homestand Thursday against Winnipeg. The game can be seen on MSG+2 and heard on the Devils Hockey Network, including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com. Puck drop is 7:08 p.m. ET.
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Here are some observations from the game...
- The Devils power play has been one of the league's best since Dec. 19. What happened in that game you ask? Nathan Bastian was put on the unit as a net-front presence. And all he's done since then is wreak havoc at the crease and retrieve pucks for his teammates.

So, it should be no surprise that it was Bastian who scored the late third-period go-ahead goal on the man-advantage. And it should also be no surprise that he scored it while literally standing in the blue paint. In fact, he was standing behind goalie Darcy Kuemper when Hughes' shot got through and hit him. Bastian was able to corral the puck and dunk it for the tally.

"I've been trying expand my role in front of the net and trying to get better in certain situational plays," Bastian said. "When Jack gets the puck, if that means I get backdoor instead of screening the goalie then that's what I'll do. Jack was being Jack there and put it right in my lap."

- Tomas Tatar picked up his 400th career NHL point on his 10th goal of the season in the second period to start the Devils comeback surge. After Jonas Siegenthaler's shot went off the post, the puck ended up in a crowd of bodies. Tatar was able to locate it and had an entirely empty net into which to score. That cut the deficit to 3-1 and the Devils were off and running. Give 400 to the Tuna.

"I was just trying to drive to the net," Tatar said. "I was happy. These kind of goals feel good for sure.

"It's a nice thing to get (the milestone), but I wasn't focusing too much on it."

- Defenseman Ty Smith was a healthy scratch for three straight games. So, what has he done in his two games back into the lineup? Only scored a goal in each contest.

Smith picked up his third goal of the season, and second in as many games, when he collected the puck from Jack Hughes at the blue line, cut to the net and received a fortuitous bounce when his backhander went off the stick of Samuel Girard and eluded goaltender Darcy Kuemper. Good things happen when you put the puck on the net. Though Smith's defensive work is what will keep him in the lineup, the offensive production certainly doesn't hurt his cause.

- Damon Severson ran the club's No. 1 power play while blueliner Dougie Hamilton missed 14 games with a broken jaw. And even though Hamilton is back, the Devils have been sticking with Severon as the point man. And his bomb of a power-play goal late in the second period is an example of why.

Severson loaded up and unloaded on the puck from the point that eluded several bodies in front as well as Kuemper and into the top corner for the goal. Severson has made the most of his opportunity and he's not about to just hand back to the car keys.

- The Devils penalty kill had been among the top-5 in the NHL since Jan. 1. However, there have been two tough nights of late starting in Chicago last week when it surrendered three power-play goals. And with Colorado's plethora of talent, the unit knew it would face a tough test this evening. - The Devils had been very disciplined lately. Part of the team's PK success has been the Devils lack of penalties taken, thus making it much easier on the few opportunities that they were forced to kill. However, New Jersey didn't have their legs in the opening period, taking two penalties in that first frame, and giving up two power-play goals. The tallies allowed the Avalanche to build an eventual 3-0 lead, however, the Devils were able to battle back. It was not an ideal beginning to the game.