Luke Evangelista recorded a goal and an assist to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 4-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday at Prudential Center.
Evangelista opened the scoring for New Jersey at 6:40 of the first period with an even-strength wrist shot off assists from Nico Hischier and Jonas Siegenthaler. Gabriel Landeskog leveled the score for Colorado at 14:32 of the opening frame, beating the goaltender on a wrist shot set up by Cale Makar and Nazem Kadri. The Devils took the lead back in the second period when Declan Chisholm scored his first goal of the season on a wrist shot at 12:33, assisted by Evangelista.
Arseny Gritsyuk widened the gap at 4:39 of the third period, beating the goalie on a backhand shot assisted by Dougie Hamilton. Jesper Boqvist extended the margin to 4-1 with an empty-net goal at 16:05, assisted by Connor Brown. Artturi Lehkonen answered for the Avalanche with a wrist shot 42 seconds later to cut the deficit to two. Lehkonen struck again on a snap shot with five seconds remaining in regulation, but Colorado ran out of time to complete the comeback.
Jake Allen earned the victory in net for the Devils, stopping 31 of 34 shots. Scott Wedgewood turned aside 37 of 40 shots in the loss for Colorado as New Jersey held a 41-34 advantage in shots on goal. Neither team converted with the man advantage, as both clubs finished 0 for 1 on the power play. New Jersey also controlled the faceoff circle, winning 37 of 57 draws.
The win lifted New Jersey to a 5-4-0 regular-season record. Colorado dropped to 5-4-1 on the year and is winless in two consecutive games.
The Devils remain at home to host the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday. The Avalanche return home to host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday.
