New Jersey Devils vs Colorado Avalanche - Odds and Predictions

Where: Pepsi Center – Denver, CO.

When: Friday, December 13, 9PM EST

How (TV/Radio): Alti, MSG+ | WFAN

New Jersey Devils (Away)

Head Coach: Alain Nasreddine{All-Time 0-3-1 NJD}

Even with a recent coaching change after the firing of John Hynes, the New Jersey Devils have continued their losing ways, having now dropped six games in a row. They are most recently coming off of a shutout loss to the Dallas Stars.

Offense

There isn’t much for the Devils to brag about this season, starting with their goal total. New Jersey has scored only 73 goals this season – the third-least in the NHL. They’ve also taken the sixth-fewest shots on net this year.

Their power play has also been disappointing. With only a 14.02 percent, the Devils have the fourth-worst power play in the league, having only 15 power-play goals.

The shooting percentage for the team is also worrisome. This team has offensive talent, yet they have only mustered an 8.1 percent shooting percentage. The league’s fifth-worst.

as if that weren’t enough, the Devils will also be without forward Nico Hirchier Friday night as he is out with an illness.

Defense

Believe it or not, New Jersey’s defensive numbers are actually quite on par with those of the Colorado Avalanche.

The Devils rank only three spots below the Avalanche when it comes to penalty killing and only two spots behind them when it comes to shots allowed.

The glaring issue is the goals that they allow. The New Jersey Devils have allowed the third-most goals against this season, allowing a combined total of 105 – 80 of those coming at even strength.

The Devils also have the league’s third-worst combined save percentage at .882.

Goaltending

Goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood is expected to start this game for the Devils. Blackwood has a season record of 8-9-4. He has a 3.00 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage with one shutout this year.

Head Coach: Jared Bednar{All-Time 123-124-30 COL}

Going 7-2-1 in their last ten games, the Colorado Avalanche are now first in the Central division and coming off of a big 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. With an astounding home record this season, the Devils will definitely have their hands full.

Offense

Nathan MacKinnon is the NHL’s third-leading scorer with 48 points this season and he has recently been reunited with linemates Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen. Rantanen has 20 points in 15 games and Landeskog has nine points and two game-winners in 15 games.

Collectively, the team has the second-highest goal total this year (behind only the Washington Capitals) with 107 goals scored – 82 of them at even strength.

Colorado also boasts the league’s best shooting percentage as a team. At the time of writing, the Avs’ had an 11.6 shooting percentage.

Even the Avalanche’s terrible faceoff percentage this season ranks above that of the New Jersey Devils.

Defense

It is still uncertain if defenseman Cale Makar, still listed as day-to-day, will play Friday night. He missed the team’s last game against Philadelphia. He has 28 points in 29 games this season.

D-Man Ryan Graves has continued to step up for the Avs, however. Graves now has 12 points in 30 games and leads the NHL in +/- with a +23 rating.

Collectively, the Avs have allowed significantly fewer goals this season than the Devils, but as mentioned above, these two teams are much closer than defensively that one would think. The Avs have allowed the 20th-most shots against this season (the Devils, 22nd-most).

Colorado’s penalty-killing percentage currently ranks as the league’s 12th-worst with a 78.95 percent (compared to New Jersey’s 77.08 percent). Colorado has allowed 20 power-play goals against (the Devils have allowed 22). The two teams average almost the same amount of penalty minutes per game as well.

Goaltending

although dealing with hamstring issues and sitting out in their last game, Philipp Grubauer is listed as the expected goalie to be in net Friday night for the Avs. Grubauer has a 10-5-2 record this season with a 2.76 goals-against average and .914 save percentage.

New Jersey and Colorado haven’t seen action against each other since last season on March 17. Unsurprisingly, the Colorado Avalanche won the game, shutting out the Devils by a final score of 3-0.

Hardly anything. This is Colorado’s game to lose and they should pick up the two points easily. They have every advantage over New Jersey.

With a recent coaching change and Taylor Hall trade rumors floating around, the Devils don’t have much to brag about this season. Even if they pulled off the victory, there is little they could do with it moving forward.

The most they could hope for is a strong performance from Taylor Hall in order to increase his trade value. Strangely enough, it is rumored that the Colorado Avalanches are the front-running team to make a trade for Taylor Hall.

Questions to Answer

With such comparable defensive statistics, and Cale Makar potentially out for Colorado, could we end up seeing a more evenly match than most will anticipate? Can New Jersey contain the Avalanche defense?

How will injuries playout for Colorado? Will defenseman Cale Makar be on the ice for the Avs? Will goaltender Philipp Grubauer be in net?

Will the Avalanche’s dominance on home ice this season and New Jersey’s horrible play on the road continue?

New Jersey Devils Injury Report

D Matt Tennyson – DL (upper-body)

D Connor Carrick – DL (finger)

F Nico Hischier – DL (illness)

Colorado Avalanche Injury Report

F Colin Wilson – DL (lower-body)

D Erik Johnson – DL (lower-body)

G Philipp Grubauer – day-to-day (hamstring)

D Cale Makar – day-to-day (upper-body)

New Jersey Devils vs Colorado Avalanches Odds

The latest odds for the Devils vs the Avalanches are provided by 888Sport NJ, SugarHouse NJ, and DraftKings.

Good Luck!

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