Oh, What Could Have Been - Jets Fall 5-2 to Avalanche

Avalanche take game 2 of best-of-seven series

We've got ourselves a series now, folks.

On Tuesday night, in front of another sold-out crowd of white-clad Winnipeg fanatics, the Colorado Avalanche did everything right on the way to a 5-2 victory. 

With the win, the Avalanche tied the opening round series of the Stanley Cup tournament at one win apiece and looked much the better team heading to Denver for Game 3 on Friday night.

For the visitors, at least, it was a pretty solid effort. 

For the first two periods, the Avalanche controlled the tempo, out-fought the Jets for loose pucks, got a much better goaltending performance from Alexandar Georgiev and took advantage of their chances to build a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes. The Avs easily shut down the Jets in the third and will go back to Denver in the driver’s seat

For the Jets, it was the first time in five meetings this season that they’d lost to the Avalanche and it put a halt to what was a regular season/playoff nine-game winning streak.

In fact, it started out as if the two teams on the ice were totally different than the two teams that played Sunday night 

Everyone was a tad cautious, especially the Avs, who were outshot 9-2 early and gave up a goal to David Gustafsson – the first playoff goal of his career. Gustafsson jumped on a loose puck in front and filled an empty net behind Alexandar Georgiev to give the Jets a 1-0 lead.

Indeed, the best goalie in the NHL gets paid to stop the puck and that’s exactly what he did. Many of the saves were of the highlight-reel variety and because of their goalie, Winnipeg went to the break with a 1-0 lead.

In the second, it was all Colorado again. In fact, the Avalanche might have put their stamp on the series with that second-period performance.

The Avs’ momentum change started at 1:59 of the period when Ross Colton won a draw cleanly, pulled it back to Miles Wood and Wood ripped a low shot past a startled Hellebuyck to tie the game at 1-1.

Then Kyle Connor took a double-minor for high-sticking Cale Makar and things looked bleak. Colorado had taken control of the play, they were all over the Jets net and Winnipeg appeared to be chasing.

The Jets killed the double-minor and shortly after returning to the ice, Connor started a rush at his own blueline. He hit Gabriel Vilardi with a perfect stretch pass, Vilardi took it over the blueline with Mark Scheifele streaking down the left side. Vilardi fed a hard pass across the front of the Colorado crease and with an Avs D-man both holding and interfering Scheifele, the Jets big centerman tipped the puck one-handed under the bar and suddenly Winnipeg had a 2-1 lead at 8:37.

A few seconds later, Hellebuyck made a sensational save, the Jets brought the puck the other way and Kyle Connor banged a wrister off the post. It could have been 3-1 Winnipeg, but instead, the Jets were never the same again. 

Colorado’s Artturi Lehkonen scored when he tipped Cale Makar's wrister past Hellebuyck at 14:16 and then Hellebuyck decided to handle the puck. As always, that’s a big mistake and this time, it was a mistake so bad, it changed the entire complexion of the game.

Hellebuyck, playing dipsy-doodle beside his goal, had his stick lifted by Yakov Trenin, Andrew Cogliano grabbed the loose puck, got it to Zach Parise in front and with Hellebuyck sprawled on the ice, Parise stuck the biscuit into the back of the net to give the Avalanche a 3-2 lead at 17:20.

With only a few seconds left in the period. Josh Manson stepped out of the penalty box behind the Jets defence, took a perfect pass from Nathan MacKinnon – the best player on the ice – and at 19:53 beat Hellebuyck on the ensuing breakaway to put the game away.

Colorado outshot Winnipeg 14-10 and had outshot the Jets 29-22 through the first two periods. The Avs were in total control.

In the third period, we got our first taste of real playoff hockey. It was check, check, check for the Avs as the Jets outshot Colorado 8-3, but couldn’t get a real good chance to beat Georgiev. The Avalanche meanwhile, got an empty net goal from Valeri Nichushkin in the dying seconds, to put it away.

This series, of course, is far from over, but if Winnipeg is to keep it even on the road, they have to be a whole lot better than they were in the first two games of the series at home.