New Jersey @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 17, 2019 ) New Jersey 0, Colorado 3

The Colorado Avalanche look to extend their point streak to a season-high nine contests when they complete a three-game homestand with a matchup against the struggling New Jersey Devils on Friday night. The Avalanche lost 5-4 in overtime against Calgary on Monday to start the short stretch at home before getting two goals from Mikko Rantanen to beat Philadelphia 3-1 on Wednesday.

Colorado showed good patience to put away the Flyers, but will need to be a bit sharper if they are going to improve on a 7-0-1 run and coach Jared Bednar told reporters: “If we play the way we can, we’re going to win a lot of hockey games, but we’ve got to get a little more consistent than we’ve been the last two home games.” The Avalanche, who visit New Jersey on Jan. 4, swept the two games in the season series in 2018-19 and lead the league in scoring (3.68 per game) while the Devils (2.43) average the second-fewest. New Jersey has dropped six straight contests (0-5-1) to tie a season high - four since Alain Nasreddine took over as coach (0-3-1) for John Hynes - after losing 6-4 at Nashville on Saturday and 2-0 at Dallas on Tuesday to open a four-game trip. “There’s no excuse. We had two days off, got here a couple days ago, had a good practice (Monday),” Devils right wing Kyle Palmieri told reporters after giving up two goals in the first 11:50 in Dallas. “. … No reasons to start like that. Wasn’t good enough, top to bottom.”

TV: 9 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New Jersey), Altitude (Colorado)

ABOUT THE DEVILS (9-16-5): Rookie Jack Hughes (12 points) has one assist in three outings since returning from a three-game absence with a lower-body injury while fellow center Nico Hischier (16 points) will miss his fourth straight because of illness. Former Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall, often mentioned in trade rumors of late, leads the team with 25 points and has recorded four in the past four contests. Palmieri registered two of his team-high 11 goals in the past four games and defenseman Sami Vatanen has collected four points in five contests this month after managing three in November.

ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (20-8-3): Rantanen boasts three goals and five assists in six games since returning from an ankle injury that kept him out more than a month, and owns 20 points in 15 contests overall. Center Nathan MacKinnon added an assist Wednesday and has 30 of his team-high 48 points in 16 games (11 goals) since being kept off the scoresheet in two straight contests early last month. Backup goalie Pavel Francouz has played in four consecutive games because of Philipp Grubauer’s hamstring injury and continues to shine, going 6-0-1 with a .932 save percentage in his last nine appearances.

OVERTIME

1. New Jersey G Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 61 of the 64 shots he faced in the last two games despite posting a pair of losses.

2. Colorado D Cale Makar (eight goals, 28 points) is doubtful after missing the last two games with an upper-body injury.

3. The Devils are 3-for-28 on the power play over the past seven games while the Avalanche have converted 3-of-23 in the last eight contests.

PREDICTION: Avalanche 5, Devils 1