- Devils honored Jake Allen’s 500th NHL game with a pregame ceremony
- Allen stopped 31 shots in a 4-3 win over Colorado
- Read below for the silver stick, the gifts and the late third-period stand
Jake Allen’s 500th NHL game got its official send-off Tuesday, and the Devils goalie followed it with a win.
New Jersey held a pregame ceremony at Prudential Center before its 4-3 victory over the Avalanche. Allen received a silver goalie stick, a fishing rod, a watch, wine and a plaque. His family stood with him at center ice for a photo in front of a giant “500” display.
Allen talked about what the night meant to him.
“I told myself just to enjoy that moment,” Allen said. “Winning the Stanley Cup (with the St. Louis Blues in 2019) and tonight are the two highlights of my career for sure. To experience it with your family, you don’t get to do that too often. That’s one of the games I’ll remember forever.”
The 500th game itself came Oct. 10 against Vancouver, a 4-1 Devils win in which Allen made 20 saves. Amanda Stein of NJD.tv wrote that his wife, Shannon, and their three daughters surprised him with gifts in the locker room that day. She also flagged the milestone before the game:
Allen was making his second straight start and finished with 31 saves.
Colorado made its push in the third period. Allen stopped 19 shots in the frame, including looks from Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar just outside the right post.
“After the first two saves it was just chaos,” Allen said. “Those are the moments that we need to get. If they score right there, that changes the game.”
Luke Evangelista opened the scoring in his return from a three-game illness absence and added an assist on Declan Chisholm’s first goal as a Devil. Arseny Gritsyuk and Jesper Boqvist added the other goals.
Artturi Lehkonen scored twice for Colorado in the final 3:13 to make it close. Connor Brown also made his season debut after recovering from a training camp injury, as Stein noted from morning skate:
Head coach Sheldon Keefe called Allen “the ultimate pro” when he hit 500 games, and Tuesday gave the veteran another win to go with it. The Devils are 5-4-0 and beat Detroit earlier this month on a Jack Hughes overtime goal. They host Anaheim on Thursday at 7:08 p.m. ET.
