NEW JERSEY DEVILS NOTES:
CURRENT INJURIES/ILLNESS
PLAYER INJURY/Illness OUT SINCE GAMES MISSED
Tomas Nosek Lower-body Oct. 13 9
Colin Miller Lower-body Oct. 20 8
Nico Hischier Upper-body Oct. 29 4
Jack Hughes Upper-body Nov. 5 1
2023-24 Total Man-Games Lost: 23
RECORD BY DIVISION/CONFERENCE:
MET: 1-1-0
ATL: 3-1-0
CEN: 3-1-1
PAC: 0-0-0
EAST: 4-2-0
WEST: 3-1-1
RECORD WHEN SCORING FIRST
Scoring first…2-0-0…Trailing first…5-3-1
The team’s five wins when trailing first ranked first in the NHL, per Nov. 6
BACK-TO-BACK GAME
Overall: 3-2-1
First game: 3-0-0 | home: 1-0-0 | road: 2-0-0
Second game: 0-2-1 | home: 0-1-1 | road: 0-1-0
New Jersey logged a 15-8-1 record in back-to-back games last season. The Devils were 6-5-1 in the first half games played and 9-3-0 in second half games played for this matter in 2022-23. New Jersey’s next back-to-back set is scheduled for Nov. 24-25, CBJ/BUF
VS COL
The Devils and Colorado face-off for the first of two matchups this season. New Jersey recorded a 2-0-0 record vs Colorado last season and were one of five teams (SEA, BOS, PIT, TBL) that were 2-0-0 against the Avs last season. Last season marked the first time since 2017-18 that the Devils swept Colorado in a season series.
ALL-TIME vs COLORADO/QUE
Record: 41-43-8-4
Home: 25-18-4-2
Road: 16-25-4-2
DID YOU KNOW… The most goals in franchise history earned in a single game vs the Avs/QUE was nine goals, twice, (vs QUE), last, Mar. 10, 1990, in a 9-3 win. The most goals that the Devils allowed in a single game vs the Avs/QUEis nine, which happened on Dec. 14, 1985, after a 9-3 defeat at Quebec. The most shots that Jersey earned in a single game vs Colorado is 43, three times, last logged on Mar. 8, 2022, at COL in a 5-3 win. The most shots that the Devils allowed in a single game vs the Avs/QUE is 43, on Jan. 29, 1983, at Quebec in a 6-4 loss. The last time the Devils shut out the Avs was on Oct. 28, 2022, in a 1-0 win at the Rock (V. Vanecek, 24 saves). The last time the Avs shut out the Devils was on Mar. 17, 2019, in a 3-0 loss at Colorado.
COLORADO AVALANCHE NOTES:
TONIGHT’S GAME
The Colorado Avalanche opens a three-game homestand tonight against the New Jersey Devils at Ball Arena…The Avs will host Seattle on Thursday before wrapping up the homestand on Saturday night against the Blues…Colorado has played only three home games, tied for the fewest in the NHL (Carolina, NY Rangers)…Eight of the 32 teams have already played at least seven home games which includes Vegas who has played eight.
QUICK NOTES
The Avs are 3-0-0 at Ball Arena, their best home start since 2019-20 (4-0-0)…Colorado and Carolina (also 3- 0-0) are the only unbeaten teams on home ice.
Colorado has played only three home games, tied for the fewest in the NHL (also Carolina, NY Rangers)…Eight of the 32 teams have already played at least seven home games which includes Vegas who has played eight.
A trio of Avalanche players reached games played milestones in Saturday’s loss to Vegas….Mikko Rantanen appeared in his 500th NHL contest, while Alexandar Georgiev and Ross Colton each dressed in their 200th career NHL game.
Logan O’Connor leads the league with three shorthanded goals, while Mikko Rantanen is tied for first in the NHL with three game-winning tallies…Alexandar Georgiev is tied for second among NHL netminders in wins (6), Nathan MacKinnon is sixth in shots (53-tied) and Cale Makar ranks fifth among defensemen in points (11-tied).
Cale Makar is two points shy of tying Adam Foote (259) for third place on the franchise’s all-time scoring list among defensemen…Makar’s 68 goals are tied with Erik Johnson and John-Michael Liles for third.
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT – NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Tonight is the first of two meetings between the Avalanche and Devils…The Devils won both matchups a year ago, sweeping the season series for the first time since 2017- 18…These two teams met in the 2001 Stanley Cup Final, a series Colorado won in seven games.
GAME NOTES
AMERICA’S TEAM The Avalanche will make 17 appearances on national TV in the U.S., including tonight’s contest against the Devils on TNT…TNT will televise nine Avalanche games, the most of any team…Colorado will be on ESPN six times, tied with Seattle for the league high…The Avalanche’s 15 combined appearances on TNT/ESPN/ABC are the most of any team.
ONE MONTH AT A TIME The Avalanche finished 6-2-0 in October, the 29th consecutive month that Colorado has not posted a “losing month” (meaning the club had a .500 or better record in that particular month)…It’s the longest such streak in franchise history, topping the previous mark of 26 straight months set from March 1994 to February 1998…This current run, which began in February 2019, is the third-longest active streak in the NHL and tied for the seventh-longest streak in league history…Twenty seven (27) of these last 29 months for the Avalanche featured a winning record, as only October 2021 (4-4-0) and October 2022 (4- 4-1) did not.
VIEW TO A KILL The Avalanche have allowed only three power-play goals in 40 shorthanded situations (92.5%), tied with Dallas for the second-best penalty kill in the league behind Boston (94.0%)…The Avs opened the year by killing off their first 19 power plays, the longest streak to begin a season in franchise history.
EAST SIDE STORY The Avalanche are 2-2-0 against Eastern Conference teams this season…The Avs finished 18-11-3 against the East last year, 8-6-2 at home and 10-5-1 on the road…Since Jared Bednar was hired in 2016-17, the Avs are 110-67-18 (.610) against the Eastern Conference, which includes a 63-27-9 (.682) mark since 2019-20, the best record of any Western Conference team during that span.
MILE(HIGH)-STONE WINS Colorado’s 4-1 victory over the Blues on Nov. 1 was the franchise’s 900th regular-season home win and the 600th home victory since the club relocated to Denver in 1995…The Avs are 900-590-210 (.591) all-time on home ice, 600-345-127 (.619) since relocating…Only Pittsburgh (630), Detroit (628), Dallas (614) and Washington (601) have more home victories since the team moved from Quebec.
NOT BAD FOR STARTERS Colorado began the year 6-0-0, matching its best start to a season in Avalanche history…The 2013-14 Avs also began that year 6-0-0…It fell one short of equaling the best start in franchise history set by the 1985-86 Nordiques.
GRAND CENTRAL The Avalanche are 2-0-0 against Central Division opponents this season…Colorado finished 19-6-1 against its division rivals last year, 10-2-1 at home and 9-4-0 on the road…The 19 wins tied Carolina (19-6-1 vs. Metropolitan) and Edmonton (19-6-1 vs. Pacific) for the most divisional victories in the NHL.
CURRENT INJURY LIST
Pavel Francouz – lower body (Oct. 11 – present)
Jean-Luc Foudy – lower body (Oct. 11 – present)
Gabriel Landeskog – knee (Oct. 11 – present)
Chris Wagner – lower body (Oct. 11 – present)
Man-Games Lost: 46 2022-23 Season Man-Games Lost: 463
RECENT TRANSACTIONS (full list at end of notes)
Nov. 5 – Ondrej Pavel recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL)
