The Colorado Avalanche are desperately seeking a win against the New Jersey Devils tonight at the Pepsi Center, having dropped three of their last four. Colorado sure had the look of a team in dire need of a victory during a first period ends with the Avs boasting a 3-0 lead.

Milan Hejduk got the scoring started for Colorado by banging in a wrist shot for his eight goal of the year off assists from Ryan O'Reilly and Gabriel Landeskog. T.J. Galiardi would beat Devils goalie Martin Brodeur seven minuets later for his second score of the season with a back-hand goal. Jan Hejda would score his third goal of the year minutes later off assists from Matt Dechene and Ryan Wilson to bring us to 3-0.

Colorado out-shot the Devils 8-6 in the first period, and won faceoffs by the same number. The Avs also had more hits, finishing with a 10-7 advantage after the first period.

For more coverage, visit our Avalanche blog Mile High Hockey and our Devils blog In Lou We Trust.