Victor Olofsson recorded his first-career hat trick to fuel a ridiculous 8–4 win for the Colorado Avalanche over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night. He tacked on two assists to lead the team with five points and double up the New Jersey Devils after Sunday’s loss to the same opponent.


Against the hottest team in the league, Colorado did brilliantly to get ahead and stay ahead, even when the pressure came. It stops New Jersey’s eight-game win streak and gets the Avs back to winning ways. Even with four hit posts, Colorado could’ve had more in a chaotic game win.

Observations From the Mountaintop

Tuesday’s twisty affair saw the Avalanche go up 5–0 and then give up four goals in 4:04. In the first half of the game, they were great and looking to run away with it and get a nice, comfortable win. Instead of being able to roll all four lines, they had to fight for it. In future games, they’ll obviously look to shut things down and keep their foot on the throttle.

But it allowed for lots of guys to get on the board, and it played a part in the win. Aside from Olofsson’s hat trick, Cale Makar notched four assists to lead other skaters. Other goals came from Martin Necas and Parker Kelly, who added an assist. Those included the first NHL assist for Gavin Brindley, leading to the first NHL goal by Zakhar Bardakov. All but five skaters recorded a point in the high-scoring matchup, and they were some big names, including Devon Toews, Brock Nelson, Josh Manson, Artturi Lehkonen, and Sam Malinski.


A lot of points came on the power play, which was finally a positive point in a game this season. Colorado exploded for four goals on the man advantage, matching their entire season total in the first 10 games. Nathan MacKinnon’s two goals came on the power play, as did one of Olofsson’s goals. Against the second-best penalty kill in the league, this is obviously a huge plus for Colorado. Now the real question is, can they keep it rolling and win them more games?

Up Next

The Avs hit the road once again, first off visiting the Vegas Golden Knights on Halloween on the first leg of a back-to-back. Puck drop for Nevada Day on the strip is at 2:00 p.m. MT. Altitude Sports will broadcast the game.