Colorado Avalanche: Round 2 with the New Jersey Devils

The Colorado Avalanche are hoping to even out the two-game series by beating the New Jersey Devils in the Pepsi Center.

The Colorado Avalanche are hosting the second and final meeting with the New Jersey Devils tonight. Their previous meeting was for the second game of the season, a 4-1 decision that went New Jersey’s way.

Including that loss, the Colorado Avalanche are 20-16-1-3(ties) all time against the Devils.

This also marks the second game  of captain Gabriel Landeskog’s four-game suspension.

How to Enjoy the Game

Game time: December 1 , 7:00 pm MT
TV Networks: Altitude TV (Avs feed), MSG+ 2 (Devils feed)
Radio: Altitude Radio (AM 950)

During this game, the Colorado Avalanche are holding their annual canned food drive. You can donate canned food or money at any of the entrances starting at 5:30 pm. The donations go to the Denver Rescue Mission.

Will Who?

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• Colorado Avalanche make sneaky signing with Tatar
• Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog could return in 2023-24 playoffs
• Colorado Avalanche rookie face-off tournament roster

One of the storylines from the summer was the defection of a drafted player who finished college and exercised his right to free agency. It happened to both the Colorado Avalanche and the New Jersey Devils.

Defenseman Will Butcher spurned the Avalanche and signed with New Jersey. In a funny irony, center Alexander Kerfoot spurned the Devils and signed with Colorado.

Unfortunately, in the last game, Butcher made better on his defection, earning three assists. Kerfoot did not record a point.

Since that game, Kerfoot has earned plenty of points — 17, to be exact. That’s one fewer than Butcher, but he has eight goals to Butcher’s two.

I think Kerfoot, who’s coming off a hot game in which he recorded a goal and an assist, will want to show well in front of his home crowd. He’s on the exciting Kids’ Line and is on the first power play unit. He’s been an excellent addition for Colorado.

The Devils just acquired  a talented defenseman in Sami Vatanen, trading a forward (Adam Henrique) for him. That might cut into Butcher’s playing time somewhat.

Nico Should have Been Ours

The Colorado Avalanche lost the 2017 NHL Draft Lottery and fell to fourth place besides having the league-worst record. The New Jersey Devils won the lottery and used their first-overall pick to choose forward Nico Hischier.

Hischier is second only to Taylor Hall in points, having recorded five goals and 13 assists. Colorado should have had that pick, and they likely would have also used it to choose Hischier.

Ah, well, 18 points would put him tied with defenseman Tyson Barrie for third place in points on the Avalanche.

Next: NHL Should Award 3 Points Every Game

We Won the Cup

No matter which way this game goes, we’ll always have the 2001 Stanley Cup win. The Colorado Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils in seven games to bring the second-ever Stanley Cup to Colorado.

I still want the Avalanche to beat New Jersey tonight. However, that historical factor will always be in our favor.