Devils Hold Off Lehkonen's Furious Late Push, 4-3

Artturi Lehkonen scored twice in 42 seconds late in the third period, but New Jersey's three-goal cushion proved just enough to survive. The Devils took a 4-1 lead into the final four minutes and then had to white-knuckle their way to the final buzzer.

New Jersey grabbed the lead early and never surrendered it. Luke Evangelista opened the scoring at 6:40 of the first with a wrist shot, assisted by Nico Hischier and Jonas Siegenthaler — a goal that shifted the margin from even to +1 and, as it turns out, set the tone for the entire night. Colorado answered quickly: Gabriel Landeskog tied it at 14:32 on a wrist shot, with Cale Makar and Nazem Kadri picking up assists. That was the last time the game was level. Declan Chisholm's first goal of the season — a wrist shot assisted by Evangelista — put New Jersey back in front midway through the second, and the Devils never looked back.

The third period looked like a formality for New Jersey. Arseny Gritsyuk extended the lead to 3-1 at 4:39 on a backhand off a Dougie Hamilton feed, and Jesper Boqvist made it 4-1 at 16:05 with a wrist shot. At that point, the story of the night appeared to be a comfortable Devils win. Then Lehkonen happened. He cut it to 4-2 at 16:47 — wrist shot, assisted by Gavin Brindley and Fedor Svechkov — and then, with five seconds left on the clock, ripped a snap shot past Jake Allen to make it 4-3 at 19:55, with Makar and Brock Nelson assisting. Two goals in 42 seconds. It wasn't enough, but it was the kind of finish that looks like it will haunt New Jersey's locker room for a day or two regardless of the result.

Scott Wedgewood was the better goaltender on paper — 37 saves on 40 shots for Colorado against Allen's 31 saves on 34 shots for New Jersey — but Wedgewood's team still lost, which tells you something about how the Devils controlled the game's structure for long stretches. Makar finished with two assists and Evangelista posted a goal and an assist to lead New Jersey's contributors. Colorado got two points each from Lehkonen and Makar, but the Avalanche dug themselves too deep a hole in the middle periods to climb all the way out. The final score reads 4-3, but for most of the night this wasn't nearly that close.