Devils Visit Ball Arena With MacKinnon and Hughes Headlining
Two of the Eastern and Western Conference's more intriguing early-season stories collide Wednesday night in Denver, with New Jersey (8-4-0) bringing one of the league's better records into a Ball Arena where Colorado (6-5-1) has been inconsistent. We don't have a model lean on this one — so this is pure matchup analysis, and there's plenty to dig into.
Start with the star power, because it's genuinely absurd. Nathan MacKinnon is operating at a different altitude — 21 points through Colorado's first 12 games, including 14 assists, which makes him the engine of everything the Avalanche do offensively. Artturi Lehkonen leads Colorado with 10 goals, a number that puts him among the league's top finishers this early in the season. The Avalanche have the personnel to punish any defensive lapse, and if New Jersey's structure breaks down for even a shift, MacKinnon will find Lehkonen or someone else in a dangerous spot.
New Jersey counters with its own offensive identity. Jack Hughes has 14 points — all of them built on 10 assists — meaning he's threading plays rather than finishing them, which makes him harder to neutralize with a simple shadow. Nico Hischier's 7 goals give the Devils a genuine finisher at the top of the lineup. The Devils' 8-4-0 record suggests they've been doing something right defensively and in net, and Jake Allen is expected to start between the pipes tonight. On the other side, Mackenzie Blackwood is projected in net for Colorado — a notable wrinkle given that Blackwood spent time with New Jersey earlier in his career, adding a layer of familiarity to an already compelling goaltending subplot.
Without a model read to anchor a lean, this one comes down to which team's top line dominates possession in the third period. MacKinnon's 21-point pace is the single most dangerous variable on the ice tonight. But New Jersey's record is not a fluke, and Hughes orchestrating at 14 points is the kind of playmaking that can expose even a well-structured defense. This is a game worth watching in full — the kind of October matchup that quietly tells you something real about both teams' ceilings.