Manitoba: Jets Wins Avalanche 7-6 In Wild Start To Playoffs

Manitoba: Jets Wins Avalanche 7-6 In Wild Start To Playoffs
With days to the NHL playoffs, Jets wins Avalanche 7-6 as captain Adam Lowry and Kyle Connor shines.
The Winnipeg Jets defeated the Colorado Avalanche 7-6 in Game 1 of the first-round playoffs on Sunday, with captain Adam Lowry and Kyle Connor each scoring twice.
This was the first time the two teams had played in the NHL playoffs.
A sold-out audience of 15,225 white-clad fans found plenty to celebrate during the “whiteout” gatherings inside and outside Canada Life Centre.
Mark Scheifele had a goal and two assists, while Josh Morrissey added a goal and an assist. Vladislav Namestnikov also scored.
Brenden Dillon, Gabriel Vilardi, and Nino Niederreiter each had two assists, with Connor picking up one.
Connor Hellebuyck made 39 saves for the Jets, who are on a nine-game winning streak.
Colorado’s Cale Makar scored a goal and added two assists. Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen each had a goal and an assist.
Valeri Nichushkin, Miles Wood, and Casey Mittelstadt all scored. Mikko Rantanen contributed two helpers.
The Avalanche had lost their previous three regular-season games versus Winnipeg.
Colorado’s goalie, Alexander Georgiev, stopped 16 out of 23 shots as the team aims to replicate their Stanley Cup victory from 2022. Arvid Holm stood in for Justus Annunen, who was unable to attend the morning skate.
Winnipeg ended three points ahead of Colorado in the Central Division, and the parity became apparent soon.
The first period concluded in a 3-3 deadlock, with both teams combining to score three goals in 66 seconds.
With a 10-to-1 shooting advantage, Nichushkin blasted the puck high over Hellebuyck’s blocker at 6:10 to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Just under two minutes later, Morrissey tied it with a point shot that went through traffic and past Georgiev. The teams then combined to score four goals in less than four minutes, three of which came in less than one minute.
Namestnikov got the shotfest started at 11:57 when his go-ahead goal had the crowd roaring.
Wood tied it at 14:47, MacKinnon scored at 15:05 for the 3-2 lead, and then Scheifele evened it up at 15:53.
Lowry’s second goal of the game had to be reviewed because the puck hit one post, crossed over and hit the other post, slid along the goal line, then hit the post again before bouncing out. It counted as crossing the line at 3:31.
At 6:29, Connor and Lehkonen exchanged power-play goals, bringing the score to 6-4, but Connor scored again just over two minutes later. Makar subsequently scored an unassisted goal with the man advantage to make the score 7-5 at 12:24.
Mittelstadt scored the game’s final goal with 30 seconds remaining.
Jets Wins Avalanche 7-6 In Wild Start To Playoffs
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