Searching for their ninth win in a row, and second straight against the Colorado Avalanche, the New Jersey Devils embarked on their first true road trip of the season on Tuesday, October 28.
The Devils started goaltender Jacob Markstrom on Tuesday night, his first start since being injured on October 13 in the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. To say he had a rough return would be an understatement. The Avalanche scored five goals through the first 30 minutes of the hockey game.
Colorado opened the scoring early, with a goal just 1:24 into the game by Martin Necas. Zakhar Bardakov scored the second for the Avalanche at 3:49.
The Devils almost turned things around in the second period. Following another early goal by Victor Olofsson, Nathan MacKinnon scored the fourth, with Parker Kelly rounding the Avalanche out at five goals.
New Jersey then found a way to muster up four goals in four minutes. At 10:08, Stefan Noesen got the scoring going for the Devils with a quick pickup of a loose puck by Paul Cotter and a snap by Noesen—his first of the season.
Dougie Hamilton was next for the Devils, scoring a nifty backhanded shot at 11:48. Both Hughes brothers were awarded assists on the goal.
Then, at 13:42, Dawson Mercer found the back of the net after an excellent zone entry by Timo Meier. With some quick passes and a strong net-front presence by Nico Hischier, Mercer was able to wrist the puck past Scott Wedgewood.
For the Devils’ fourth and final goal, Jack Hughes sent the puck back through his legs to Jesper Bratt who found Hughes again after he circled back in front of the net (fork found in kitchen) for the snap shot at 14:12.
Your daily serving of PB&J. pic.twitter.com/hPY9ljreuv
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) October 29, 2025
Following that highlight reel goal, the Devils took a tumble. Just over a minute later, MacKinnon found the back of the net again. The Devils were down 6-4 heading into the third.
Olofsson found the net two more times in the third period, recording his first NHL hat trick.
The Devils did tally 30 shots on goal, but allowed 42 from the Avalanche and only blocked 10 shots. New Jersey’s special teams were looking weak: they did not score on the power play and allowed Colorado to score on four out of six opportunities.
All hope is not lost for this team. Everyone has bad days and it would be almost impossible to win all 82 games in a season. The Devils can learn from this game and adjust before taking on the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, October 30 at 10 p.m.
