Devils have room for improvement after losing to Avalanche

So much for the New Jersey Devils' four-game winning streak.

Eight days after outlasting visiting Colorado, the Devils fell to the host Avalanche, 5-2, in Denver on Wednesday night. Connor Brown scored the opening and closing goals of the game for New Jersey, but in between, it was all Avs, with Brent Burns setting up two goals and Nathan Mackinnon getting his eighth goal of the season. Devils netminder Jake Allen, who was feted on Oct. 20 in the Devils' 4-3 home win over Colorado for playing in 500 career NHL games, took the loss this time despite stopping 40 of 45 shots. 

Ten Devils were a minus-one in the contest, though Jonas Siegenthaler blocked four shots on defense, and Amadeus Lombardi posted an assist and four shots. The power play, however, finished 0-of-3, and New Jersey was outshot, 45-22, overall on the night.

Holding steady ... sort of

The loss leaves the Devils at 8-5-0 overall, third in the Metropolitan Division, behind defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina and second-place Washington. Six of New Jersey's wins, however, have come against teams in the bottom half of the overall NHL standings, leaving them just 2-5-0 against the top 16, including Colorado. 

The Devils are third in the league with 424 shots on goal, but they aren't in the top five in other offensive categories such five-on-five goals for, shooting percentage and goal differential. They rank ninth in goals-against per game (2.92), but are 23rd on the power play (17.5 percent) and 24th on the penalty kill (72.4 percent). More work is obviously needed on special teams, though there are still 71 regular-season games to go.

Back to work in Vegas

Next up is defending Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights on Friday in Nevada, which will close out October and complete New Jersey's three-game road trip. The Devils are just 2-3-0 on the road so far this season, as opposed to 6-2-0 within the confines of the Prudential Center in Newark. 

Expect newly acquired Connor Hellebuyck to get the start in net against the Golden Knights, just his second start of the season, and first since his Devils debut in a 5-1 win at Dallas.