G60 New Jersey Devils @ Colorado Avalanche: Ride the Hughes heater

Jack Hughes has been lights out for the Devils. Can he put forth another dominant performance against the Avalanche?

Follow along on Twitter @ToddCordell | @InfernalAccess

Be sure to join the Discord channel to talk hockey with our writers and subscribers.

---

The New Jersey Devils started their five-game road trip with a shutout victory over the Nashville Predators.

Let’s take a look at a few key factors that’ll help decide tonight’s game in Colorado:

Will the well run dry? 💧

The Devils have won six of 10 games without Jacob Markstrom, which everyone would have signed up for at the time of injury.

Unfortunately, that has more to do with getting surprisingly good goaltending – check that, great goaltending – than playing quality hockey.

The Devils’ defensive game has really tailed off. A dip was certainly expected in the absence of Jonas Siegenthaler but not to this extent. The Devils are tied for last in expected goals against/60 at 5v5 over the last 10 games.

They’ve allowed 3.02 xGA/60, which is nowhere close to the 2.38 they’ve averaged over the course of the season.

How many times have the Devils won a game of late and I’ve noted Team X had a ton of chances to get back into it? That feels like the story nightly.

While Jake Allen and Nico Daws are quality No. 2 and No. 3 goaltenders, and deserve a ton of credit for their great play, they can’t sustain what they’ve given the Devils of late.

I mean, no goaltending duo in the NHL has outperformed them since Markstrom’s injury. They have the Devils sitting 1st in save percentage and high-danger save percentage during that span.

They have absolutely punched above their weight and, at some point, they’re going to give the team a meh start instead of a great one.

If the Devils don’t tidy things up defensively, it won’t look good when that time comes.

Survive the five 5️⃣