Victor Olofsson, Nathan MacKinnon power Avalanche past Devils in wild 8-4 affair

Giving up four goals in fewer than five minutes is not a recipe for success on bulk nights in the NHL This wasn t the bulk nights for the Colorado Avalanche Powered by a Victor Olofsson hat trick and two goals from Nathan MacKinnon the Avalanche prevailed - against the New Jersey Devils on a night filled with firewagon hockey at Ball Arena Colorado s struggling power play busted out in a big way scoring four times after only having that various in the first games of the season Cale Makar assisted on each of the four extra-man strikes and the Avs ended a four-game losing streak It was Olofsson s first career hat trick He also had his first career five-point tournament The two teams combined for shots on goal Scott Wedgwood had a strong night outside the chaotic stretch when Colorado nearly blew a - advantage finishing with saves The second period featured eight goals including four straight by the visitors at one point Colorado started fast for the second straight period Olofsson collected his first goal with the Avalanche when he snapped a wrist shot into the far corner during a rush down the right wing at That made it - A limited minutes later this one looked like a laugher MacKinnon scored on a one-timer during a -on- at to make it - Then Parker Kelly got behind the New Jersey defense and tucked a backhanded shot past Jacob Markstrom at Colorado was rolling and then it wasn t New Jersey scored four times in a span and the party at Ball Arena got pretty quiet in a hurry There was a Brent Burns giveaway that led to a Stefan Noesen goal Then Dougie Hamilton made a nifty play to bat a rebound out of mid-air to himself later Then Dawson Mercer scored on a give-and-go with Nico Hischier seconds after that When Jack Hughes finished off a -on- rush with a one-timer it was a - challenge and there was still left in the second period The Devils could not stay out of the penalty box and that was their undoing MacKinnon scored his second of the night from almost the same spot but this one was a -on- goal and it was a howitzer just under the crossbar Related Articles Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog on slow start It s only going to get better Jack Hughes scores twice as Avalanche falls to Devils - in overtime Offense goes cold quirky Bruins goals costly in Avalanche s first regulation loss of season Avalanche Journal Colorado Carolina lost Mikko Rantanen but both clubs have rebounded well Ball Arena ups its food contest for - Nuggets Avs seasons with Redeemer Pizza Nola Jane Olofsson had been playing well including shots on goal in his first games with Colorado This night was the breakthrough He added his second of the night just into the third period after a feed from MacKinnon and the Avs had matched their output with the extra man from the start of the season The Avs led - after the first period It wasn t a great minutes for the home side but two goals on the first four shots forged an early advantage Markstrom made his first start for the Devils in net since Oct and it did not start well for him Markstrom put the puck into the crowd seconds in and the Avs took advantage with the first power-play goal of the night at It was a crisp-looking power play with multiple chances created before a quick passing sequence led to Martin Necas blasting a one-timer past Markstrom Zakhar Bardakov traded to Colorado by New Jersey for Kurtis MacDermid on March scored his first NHL goal against the club that drafted him There was a scrum in front of the Avs net but they transitioned the other way hurriedly and Parker Kelly fed Bardakov on the ensuing rush Gavin Brindley who made a nice play to get it started also collected his first NHL assist Want more Avalanche news Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis