The Colorado Avalanche are one of the best teams in the NHL and entered Tuesday night’s game coming off a rough loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. The expectation was for the Avalanche to start the game off with a bang and possibly force the New Jersey Devils to play catch-up.

The opposite happened. The Devils got on the board first and controlled the pace of the play from the opening puck drop. While the game was tied after the first period, the Devils took control and defeated the Avalanche 4-3 to move to 5-4 on the season. 

Moreover, the Devils took the wind out of the Avalanche's sails with the way they played. They controlled possession and not only kept the puck in the offensive zone but also overwhelmed the opponent with shots throughout the game. The 4-3 final score wasn’t indicative of their play; the Devils were the dominant team. 

The latest game looked a lot like the win the Devils had over the New York Rangers, a game in which they stomped their rivals 7-1. It shows the progress that this team is making and the hope that they are restoring in the fans. The Devils have proven what they can do and what they look to build on for a great season. 

Arseny Gritsyuk’s goal was a highlight moment worth watching again and again. It’s not just that he split the defense; he split Cale Makar and Devon Toews, arguably the best defense pairing in the NHL, and dangled the puck past the Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood. “Those are not easy guys to dangle like that. He made a hell of a play, hell of an effort, and a great tuck,” Luke Evangelista noted after the game.

The goal is a vacuum; it's impressive and shows the skill he has to make something out of nothing. “He scored a lot of those types of goals where it's kind of like nothing's really happening and then all of a sudden, with a few strides he creates something on his own,” head coach Sheldon Keefe added. In the big picture, however, it’s a sign that he’s heating up along with the rest of a revamped forward unit. 

The offense looks significantly improved with his move to the Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt line, a duo that unlocks his speed and talent. He has four goals this season, while the Devils have 18 goals in the last four games. 

The subsequent plus is that it allows Anthony Mantha to play alongside Evan Rodrigues. It gives the Devils a heavy third line that Keefe can turn to when the game needs a change of pace but still needs a goal. While they didn’t find the back of the net in the recent game, they’ve been a tough line to play against since the change. 

Declan Chisholm was asked to do more on the defense. Along with rounding out the defense, the Devils want to see more offense from him and a more aggressive mindset from the 26-year-old blueliner. 

The Devils got it in the game against the Avalanche. He scored the goal in the second period that gave them a 2-1 lead and the momentum that they never gave up. Chisholm always had that playmaking touch at the point, but leaning into it goes a long way for the defensive unit, a unit that can use more scoring aside from Luke Hughes and Dougie Hamilton. 

It’s not just the scoring either. Chisholm, along with the rest of the defense, is clogging up the shooting lanes and limiting high-danger shots on the net. “The mindset going in this week was just defensive-minded. Closing hard down low, boxing guys out and quickly transitioning from that defense to the offensive zone,” Chisholm mentioned after the 4-3 win. It was noticeable in the recent game and made that 4-2 loss to the Washington Capitals, where the defense looked out of place, more like an outlier. 

The win against the Avalanche, while impressive, came against a tired team. The Avalanche were playing the second game of a back-to-back and looked a step behind. Some wonder if it means a Stanley Cup contender is on the decline. Most assume it’s just a rough stretch that an otherwise great team goes through. 

The Devils face the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday and the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. This is their best chance early on in the season to string together a few wins. The Devils have hovered around the .500 mark through nine games, and this is their best chance to prove they are a competitive team. 

It makes this stretch pivotal for the Devils. Sure, it’s early in the season, but the hope is that they can prove this is a different team, an improved group that isn’t similar to the ones that have underachieved in the past. The win against the Avalanche was a promising sign, and they hope to build on it.