Devils hope to keep exceeding expectations vs. Avalanche

When the New Jersey Devils went into a rebuild a few years ago, they targeted next season as the goal to be a contender.

They're a year ahead of schedule, and the acquisition of Timo Meier from San Jose on Sunday shows they are serious about this year. New Jersey is 15-3-2 in its last 20 games, is second in the Metropolitan Division and has won back-to-back games.

That winning streak will be put to the test when the Dev