New Jersey Devils vs. Colorado Avalanche: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 3/1/2023

Time: 9 p.m. ET

Venue: Ball Arena, Denver, CO

Where to watch: MSGSN, ALT

DraftKings: Check back later for odds

FanDuel: Check back later for odds

BetMGM: Check back later for odds

Caesars: Check back later for odds

Devils: 39-15-5

Avalanche: 34-19-5

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The New Jersey Devils will be playing the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, March 1 in Denver, Colorado.

The New Jersey Devils won against the Philadelphia Flyers last Saturday, February 25 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey with a score of 7-0. The New Jersey Devils currently rank 2nd in the Metropolitan Division.

Akira Schmid made 23 saves for his first NHL shutout, and Dawson Mercer extended his goal streak to six games for the New Jersey Devils.

"It feels great," Schmid said. "Obviously, the guys played amazing in front of me, not letting any chances happen, so shout out to them."

Jonas Siegenthaler had a goal and two assists, and Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes each had a goal and an assist for New Jersey (39-15-5), which finished 3-1-0 on a four-game homestand and is 8-2-1 in its past 11.

"We started the right way, didn't give them a lot and didn't have a lot of turnovers or give a lot of breakaways," Siegenthaler said. "We focused on that after the last couple games and did a pretty good job tonight."

Siegenthaler gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 2:59 of the second period. After Miles Wood won the puck behind the Flyers' net, he made a one-handed push pass up the boards to Siegenthaler, who scored on a slap shot from the left point.

Hughes made it 2-0 at 8:35 when he collected a clearing pass by Siegenthaler at the Flyers' blue line and scored five-hole with his backhand on a breakaway.

Mercer extended it to 3-0 at 19:00 on a one-timer from the slot after receiving a centering pass by Hischier from the right corner.

"I was kind of just trying to get myself open," Mercer said. "I knew Nico saw me, he was looking around, and I was hoping their defense didn't realize, so I kind of just left it up to Nico."

Mercer has eight goals during his streak. At 21 years, 121 days, he is the youngest player in Devils/Kansas City Scouts/Colorado Rockies history to score in six straight games.

"It's all about momentum and once you get on a roll, a lot of good things happen," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "When you look at Mercer, it's almost anything he touches. ... I thought he had the best opportunity in the first period and shot it over the net on a real good look. Then he converts that great play from Nico coming out of the corner."

Hischier pushed it to 4-0 on a snap shot from the right face-off circle at 4:05 of the third period, and Dougie Hamilton scored 1:11 later with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle to make it 5-0.

Jesper Bratt scored backdoor at the left post after receiving a no-look backhand spinning pass from Hughes to make it 6-0 at 13:49.

Nathan Bastian, who was a healthy scratch the previous four games, scored on a tip-in from the slot at 16:00 for the 7-0 final.

"I thought, as a whole, it was one of our better defensive games," Ruff said. "We didn't give up a lot and Akira made the saves he needed to make. I thought his puck play was real good for us and he helped us on a bunch of breakouts.

"He's been a big part of where we're at with the [lower-body] injury to Mackenzie Blackwood. We needed him to step in and play well."

The New Jersey Devils have won seven of their last 10 games.

The Colorado Avalanche won against the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday, February 27 at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado with a score of 3-0. The Colorado Avalanche currently rank 2nd in the Central Division.

Alexandar Georgiev made 31 saves, and the Colorado Avalanche won their sixth straight game. It was Georgiev's third shutout of the season and 11th in the NHL.

"I think the first period was one of the tougher ones for me, but I think we played really, really great [in the] second and third," Georgiev said. "Didn't let them get too much going on. We're playing really, really good right now, and it's not a big workload in terms of shots. So fun to play like that."

Mikko Rantanen scored two goals for the Avalanche (34-19-5), who are 7-0-1 in their past eight games.

Colorado has scored first in 16 of its past 19 games, going 13-1-2 in those games.

"Catch up hockey's losing hockey. There's no question," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "[It's] part of the recipe for success, and if you look at our last 16 games, we've scored or we've played with the lead a lot. I think we're currently in the best stretch of hockey we've played this year. It's also the best lineup that we've had all year long."

Rantanen scored 14 seconds into the first period to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead after Hill passed him the puck from behind his net. Rantanen has scored in five straight games.

"Usually they rim it, and usually the goalies see the guy there. So I guessed that maybe he's going to do it," Rantanen said. "It's nice to start the game that way, I guess. Get the lead and get feeling good."

Rantanen extended the lead to 2-0 when he one-timed a backdoor pass from J.T. Compher at 16:20 of the second period. It was his 40th goal in 58th game this season, becoming the fastest player to reach the mark in Avalanche history.

"It's just a number. I feel like it doesn't really change too much," Rantanen said. "I'm not going to celebrate it too much tonight. [It's] more about the win and the two points. I'm glad to help the team. If I can score as many goals as I can, then I think it's going to help the team win. So that's all I care about."

Nathan MacKinnon scored into an empty net to make it 3-0 at 16:33 of the third period. He has 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) during an eight-game point streak.

The Colorado Avalanche have won seven of their last 10 games.

Prediction

It's Timo Time in New Jersey. Timo Meier makes his Devils debut in this one, and what a game it should be. Maybe a Stanley Cup Final preview? I wouldn't put it past anyone, but this is going to be a jolt in the Devils locker room. Devils 4, Avalanche 3

Check back later for trends.

Devils:

Tomas Tatar -- Nico Hischier -- Timo Meier

Yegor Sharangovich -- Jack Hughes -- Dawson Mercer

Ondrej Palat - Erik Haula -- Jesper Bratt

Miles Wood -- Michael McLeod -- Jesper Boqvist

Jonas Siegenthaler -- Dougie Hamilton

Ryan Graves -- John Marino

Kevin Bahl -- Damon Severson

Vitek Vanecek

Avalanche:

Artturi Lehkonen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Valeri Nichushkin

Evan Rodrigues -- J.T. Compher -- Mikko Rantanen

Denis Malgin -- Alex Newhook -- Logan O'Connor

Andrew Cogliano -- Ben Meyers -- Matt Nieto

Samuel Girard -- Devon Toews

Bowen Byram -- Josh Manson

Jack Johnson -- Brad Hunt

Alexandar Georgiev