The last time the Colorado Avalanche and Winnipeg Jets faced off, Winnipeg came away with a gutsy 3-1 win on March 24th.
Tonight? This game was a potential look into a first-round series in this years’ Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The league-leading Avalanche might’ve given up the first goal, but they slowly chipped away at Connor Hellebuyck, and the ice began to tilt in their favour.
Was the outta town scoreboard going to hold in Winnipeg’s favour? There was a chance, but the Jets had to do themselves some favours and pick up up a much-needed two points.
Colorado was always going to be a tough challenge, but the Jets were riding the momentum of beating Vegas on Tuesday night.
On the night he was being honoured for passing Thomas Steen as the Jets’ all-time games played leader, Mark Scheifele also tied his career-high of 87 points, a mark he set in 2024-25.
Scheifele’s first goal of the game was a nice cross-ice one-timer that beat Mackenzie Blackwood top shelf, and the Jets had an early 1-0 lead to work with.
The Avalanche weren’t going to go away quietly, and late in the first period, Jack Drury found himself close to the Jets’ net, and he managed to fire home a rebound to tie it up 1-1.
This goal was the start of three straight for Colorado, and it was enough to put the Jets away in a crucial minute of the first period.
In the second period, Winnipeg and Colorado locked horns again, and nobody gave an inch. Still, late penalty trouble for Winnipeg proved catastrophic as they would give Colorado a five-on-three power play. The Jets opened the third period with seven seconds of a two-man penalty left to kill, but Colorado still struck on the remainder of Elias Salomonsson’s delay of game penalty.
Nathan MacKinnon netted his first of two goals as he swatted the puck in just behind Hellebuyck to make it 2-1. MacKinnon was then wrapped up in controversy as he drove the net and tapped in his second of the game to make it 3-1. The Jets challeneged the goal for possible goalie interference, but the goal stood and Winnipeg had a hole to climb out of.
At the halfway point of the period, Mark Scheifele scored his second of the game to cut Colorado’s lead down to 3-2. In the process, he set a season high in points with his 88th of the season, but it was the last of the game, and Winnipeg wasn’t able to push Colorado to the edge.
In Winnipeg’s push, Josh Manson caught Morgan Barron with a high and heavy hit, and both players ended up dropping the gloves.
Barron caught a punch square in the face to end the fight, and was subsequently pulled from the game for concussion spotting.
With the physicality ramping up between these two teams, Saturday night will likely be just as intense in Colorado. The Avalanche picked up a big win, and Winnipeg missed the mark of getting within three points of a wildcard spot.
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