Avs grab momentum, roll over Jets

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This article was published 23/04/2024 (532 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets took the foot off the gas pedal for just a few minutes on Tuesday night — and ended up getting run right off the road by a high-octane Colorado Avalanche club.

A 5-2 loss at Canada Life Centre levels the best-of-seven playoff series at 1-1.

“It stings. You never like losing, let alone a home game here. I’m sure they’re happy with the split,” said Jets forward Kyle Connor.

You can file this under “one that got away” from the home team. Winnipeg had built a well-deserved 2-1 lead by the midway mark of the game and seemed in full control.

But some poor puck management proved costly, as the opportunistic visitors scored three times in the span of 5:37 in the latter half of the second period to silence the sold-out crowd and turn this into a best-of-five while seizing home-ice advantage in the process.

“They’re a fantastic team. They have been that all year. They have some world-class players that move really well and make you pay when you give them time and space. I think we gave those guys too much time and space tonight,” said forward Mark Scheifele.

“We just have to make our adjustments and they’re going to do the same as well. That’s just what makes the playoffs fun.”

The action now shifts to Denver for Games 3 and 4. Before we get there, let’s review all that transpired at the downtown rink.

1) Fire up the Gus Bus

Despite winning Game 1 by a 7-6 score, the Jets stressed they needed to be better. And they were off the hop, with David Gustafsson opening the scoring just 3:15 into the game.

The young forward, who is only in the lineup because of an injury to winger Morgan Barron, swept home a loose puck for his first career playoff goal in his fifth career postseason contest.

Defenceman Brenden Dillon fired a shot from the blue line which was stopped by Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, who seemed to kick the puck right to Gustafsson’s stick.

Winnipeg’s fourth line has now connected in both games, with Alex Iafallo setting up Vlad Namestnikov in Game 1. That’s the kind of depth production you need at this time of year.

2) What could have been the turning point

Colorado, as you’d expect after falling behind, came out strong to start the second period, taking the play to Winnipeg and knotting the score just 1:59 into the frame as Miles Wood ripped a shot past a surprised Connor Hellebuyck right off an offensive zone faceoff win from Ross Colton.

Just over two minutes later, Connor clipped Avalanche defenceman Cale Makar with a high stick, drawing blood. That gave Colorado’s potent power play, which went 2-for-2 in Game 1, a golden four-minute opportunity.

Credit to the Jets, who killed it off thanks to a pair of huge shot blocks by Dylan Samberg and some timely clears, limiting the Avalanche to just one shot.

“They did a fantastic job. They clogged up the seams and kept them to the outside and blocked some shots, which is huge. They did a fantastic job and gave us a good chance,” said coach Rick Bowness.

With the crowd roaring its approval, this felt like a true momentum shifter when Scheifele finished off a perfect dish from Gabe Vilardi to give the Jets a 2-1 lead at 8:37.

“Fantastic pass by Gabe,” said Scheifele. “I knew the guy was kind of there and he didn’t really know where the puck was. So, If I had to go two-handed there, he probably reacts in the same fashion. I just made a judgment call.”

Surely they’d channel all that energy and keep going, right?

3) What really was the turning point

With the Avalanche suddenly reeling at the big swing, the Jets kept coming and nearly made it 3-1 when Connor’s shot hit the post.

A huge miss, as it turned out.

Colorado tied it shortly after, as Makar’s shot was tipped by Artturi Lehkonen to make it 2-2.

Then, a couple of terrible decisions came back to bite Winnipeg.

First up was Hellebuyck attempting to play the puck behind his net, only to have his pocket picked. The end result was Zach Parise scoring into what was basically an empty net.

“That’s a fluky one. How many times does Connor go back and play the puck and it’s bang up, no problem,” said Connor.

“Our forwards can do a bit better job picking the forwards coming in, too. Maybe a little skate screen can help him out. It’s a team effort there, but at the same time I think that’s one of those you just brush off. You know you’re playing good at that point. Hopefully you follow up on the next shift.”

The dagger came courtesy of Nikolaj Ehlers, who had control of the puck in the Avalanche zone, slipped and fell, and rather than just push the puck deep and kill the clock, he tried to force a play back to the blue line which was picked off and resulted in a breakaway pass to Josh Manson, who had just exited the penalty box after serving a coincidental roughing minor with Vilardi.

Manson beat Hellebuyck on the deke with seven seconds left in the frame, and suddenly the Jets were in a two-goal hole.

“It’s just the timing of it. He’s on that side of the ice so you can’t give him the puck, you can’t catch him. It was just unfortunate timing and they took advantage of it,” Bowness said of the play.

4) Georgiev’s redemption

Colorado’s goaltending was the big story in Game 1, as Georgiev gave up seven goals on just 23 shots. With regular backup Justus Annunen still out with illness, there was plenty of pressure on him to come up with a better performance in this one.

He certainly did, stopping 28 of 30 shots and really settling things down for his team, especially once they jumped out to the lead and the Jets started to push in the final period.

“We get some looks. (Connor) hits the post the second period and then they go down and score shortly after. That’s playoffs, you know?” said Scheifele.

“We’ve just got to continue to make adjustments and try to find ways to get to the front of the net a little more and get a few more chances and get a bit more o-zone time.”

Valeri Nichushkin sealed the victory with an empty-net goal.

“Just a little bit of the ebbs and flows of the game. They had a good push there. Maybe we didn’t stick with it,” Connor said of what went wrong.

“We could have done a lot better job of developing some offence in their zone and kind of getting some more zone time. I thought we were a little bit too quick to go one and out. I don’t think we had too much sustained zone time. At the end of the day it’s about adjustments. I thought our power play could be better. I don’t think we were very good tonight. Disconnected all over the ice. So, we’ll do some adjustments. It’s a 1-1 series. It’s about that next game.”

5) Let’s get physical

The two teams combined for 100 hits in Game 1, which is a massive number that speaks to the intensity of playoff hockey.

Could they keep up that torrid pace?

“Listen, it’s a seven-game series and every chance you get, you’ve got to finish your checks,” Bowness said prior to puck drop.

“Does that mean you want to run all over the ice and hit them? Absolutely not. Don’t want to chase the game. But when the opportunity is there to finish checks, they’re doing it, we’re doing it, every series is doing it. So, you’re hoping as the series goes on that you’re wearing guys down.”

They came close in this one, finishing with 87 (44 for the Avalanche, 43 for the Jets). Nobody had more than Logan Stanley’s eight.

6) Extra, extra

Both teams finished 0-for-3 on the power play.

After giving up six goals on 46 shots in Game 1, Hellebuyck stopped all 15 he faced in a busy first period — then let in four of the next 16 over the final 40 minutes.

With his Game 1 victory, the 69-year-old Bowness became the oldest coach in NHL history to record a playoff win. He’ll continue breaking his own record with each subsequent victory.

Winnipeg had won nine straight games coming into this one, including the final eight of the regular season. That’s the most in franchise history. The Jets had also beaten the Avalanche in all four previous meetings this year prior to Tuesday.

Both teams will now fly to Denver on Wednesday, skate Thursday, and get ready for Game 3 on Friday night. Game 4 will go on Sunday afternoon, with Game 5 now guaranteed next Tuesday back in Winnipeg.

“We have two days of rest here now. We need to ramp it up as it’s playoffs. You’re not going to win every game, but you’ve just got to be ready for the punches that are thrown,” said Scheifele.

7) Adding Landy would be dandy

It’s been two years since Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog last played an NHL game, the result of a serious knee injury that led to cartilage replacement surgery. But he made his presence felt on Tuesday as he took a twirl with his healthy teammates during the morning skate, albeit without equipment.

“I think he helps our team morale. Landy’s just a great person, player, sort of just an extension of the coaching staff, a guy that anyone on our team can go to and lean on with any issues,” said coach Jared Bednar.

Could he potentially return at some point during these playoffs?

“That would be an ideal situation for us if we were able to continue to advance and he were able to get back,” said Bednar.

”We don’t know that that’s the case, but we’ve got a lot of motivation as a team.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg