Devils 7, Avalanche 5: Any way you want it

The Devils bested the Avalanche in an air-tight defensive battle earlier in the year. This time around, they flexed their muscles in a track meet.

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A few notes following New Jersey’s exhilarating win over the Colorado Avalanche:

The Devils showed their versatility

The Devils have faced the defending Stanley Cup champions twice this season. They are 2-0 and picked up each win in completely different fashion.

In the opening game of the season series, the Devils were able to grind out a 1-0 victory. Every inch of the ice was fought for and it felt like generating a shot – let alone a scoring opportunity – was an accomplishment. It was essentially a playoff game in October; and the Devils passed that test with flying colors.

The script was much different this time around. The defenses were looser. It was noticeably easier to get the puck to the paint in-zone and there were plenty of rush chances, and breakaways, for both sides.

That’s generally not a style of game teams want to get into against the Avalanche. Even without Cale Makar, and Gabriel Landeskog, they have a handful of guys who can crush your hopes and dreams when playing that kind of hockey.

The Devils felt that – Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Valeri Nichushkin were deadly in spurts – but they managed to trade opportunities and come out on top anyway.

A multi-goal head start helped the cause, of course, but there was definitely potential for the Devils to fold. They kept pushing back and generating their share of opportunities, which proved to be the difference.

I think the Devils beating a truly elite team on multiple occasions – while playing completely different styles in each game – is a very promising sign.

It should give them real confidence that they are matchup proof and can hang with anybody. They don’t need a certain type of opponent to find success.

The Timo Meier boost is real