Avalanche get shot at taking down red-hot Devils

The regular season is not yet 10% complete for the New Jersey Devils.

But if history is any indication, a fast start has dramatically improved the Devils' chances of making the playoffs.

The Devils will look to remain red hot Sunday afternoon when they host the Colorado Avalanche in Newark, N.J., in what amounts to the opener of a home-and-home.

The two teams are also slated to play again in Denver on Tuesday.

The Devils were off Saturday after earning their seventh straight win Friday night, when Dougie Hamilton scored twice in a 3-1 victory over the visiting San Jose Sharks. The Avalanche are completing a back-to-back road set after falling to the Boston Bruins, 3-2, on Saturday afternoon.

The winning streak is the longest for New Jersey since a franchise record-tying 13-game run from Oct. 25 through Nov. 21, 2022. That surge helped the Devils shed a slow start -- they opened 0-2-0 and were 3-3-0 through six games -- and end a four-year postseason drought.

This streak -- built following a season-opening 6-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes -- has tied the best eight-game start in team history. The 1993-94 team, which fell to the New York Rangers in seven games in the Eastern Conference finals, also opened 7-1-0.

In addition, all but three of the previous 60 NHL teams to open 7-1-0 or better through eight games reached the playoffs.

New Jersey's current streak includes five wins over teams that made the playoffs last season -- the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers and the Cup runner-up Edmonton Oilers as well as the Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild and Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Devils trailed for just the third time in their streak Friday, when Sharks left winger William Eklund scored 2:25 into the first. But Hamilton scored on a pair of power plays in the second, when New Jersey outshot San Jose 13-0.

"We didn't start great, but came back, took a couple deep breaths and came out as another team (in the second)," Devils center Nico Hischier said. "From then on, I think we were definitely the better team and deserved those two points."

Two points have been increasingly harder to come by this week for the Avalanche, who have lost three straight (0-1-2) following a 5-0-1 start. Colorado trailed twice in its five wins, both times at 1-0.

Artturi Lehkonen gave the Avalanche a quick lead by scoring 4:26 into the first Saturday, but Viktor Arvidsson and Michael Eyssimont scored 39 seconds apart late in the period to put the Bruins ahead for good.

Morgan Geekie scored the game-winning goal with just 4.5 seconds left in the middle period, when he caught up to a loose puck behind the Avalanche net and tucked a shot past the left post.

The Avalanche lost despite outshooting the Bruins 33-19.

"It was frustrating because we had a good start but couldn't extend the lead," Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said. "The goal at the end of the second period is a killer."

--Field Level Media