In Denver, the Colorado Avalanche hosted the New Jersey Devils on Friday night.
Before the game even dropped the fist puck, the story of the game was the absence of Taylor Hall, the Devils’ star player.
“The guys reacted well,” Devils coach Alain Nasreddine said. “I told them we got a job to do, got to go out and perform, there’s two points on the line, and that’s where our focus should be. I thought the guys came out ready to play.
“It’s big news, I’m not going to lie. It’s big news when one of the top players in the League is not dressing for your team.”
The Devils might used his talents as the Avs picked off a 3-1 win/1
Pavel Francouz made 37 saves in the win.
“It was one of those nights when the puck is just hitting you and you can enjoy the time,” Francouz said. “My teammates played pretty well in front of me, so that helped a lot.”
Nathan MacKinnon, Valeri Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog scored for the Avs who improved to 21-8-3.
“It’s a tough one tonight,” the Devils’ Nico Hischier said. “Same result, but if you look at the game, I think we deserve better. We were right there. I think we had like 10 minutes where we were not dialed in. But I think the rest of the game we could play with them, and that shows us that we don’t have to hide.”
Mirco Mueller closed the gap with just over four minutes left in the third period. His shot was off target, but the puck deflected off an Avs’ stick and into the net.
“I thought we were skating well, we were playing a lot more north hockey and managing the puck,” New Jersey captain Andy Greene said. “It seems like when we do those types of things, when we use our speed, when we play a little bit smarter game … we didn’t get the result we wanted, but it’s for sure a better recipe to play.”
[WATCH: All Devils vs. Avalanche highlights]
Louis Domingue got the start for the Devils, but left game with a lower body injury. He 15 saves through middle of the game.
“The effort was there,” Nasreddine said. “You can’t complain about the effort tonight, by everyone in the lineup. Not the end result, want to win, but the way we played is the way we need to play every night.”
Mackenzie Blackwood made 19 saves in reief; the Avs added an empty net goal late.
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