New Jersey brings a four-game run and a 4-3 head-to-head win into Ball Arena, but Colorado’s top-six scoring poses a sharp counter.
New Jersey arrives at Ball Arena on a four-game winning streak, sitting 8-4-0 with 16 points and No. 7 in the power index; Colorado is 6-5-1 with 13 points and No. 11. The Devils took the season’s first meeting 4-3, but Colorado’s +9 goal differential tops New Jersey’s +8, and Nathan MacKinnon has 21 points in 12 games. The key tension is shot volume versus star-powered production: New Jersey owns a +10.1 shots-on-goal differential per game, while Colorado’s top six average 6.75 points per game to the Devils’ 5.16. Colorado also blocks 14.6 shots per game to New Jersey’s 12.1, so the Avalanche must blunt the Devils’ shooting edge and turn MacKinnon’s playmaking into finishing to reverse the earlier result.