Jets score 7, hold off Avalanche in Game 1 of West 1st Round

WINNIPEG -- Kyle Connor and Adam Lowry each scored two goals for the Winnipeg Jets in a 7-6 win against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round at Canada Life Centre on Sunday.

“It’s not the way we drew it up, a 7-6 game, but sometimes you’ve just got to play that game that’s in front of you,” Connor said. “It turned into a bit of a track meet there and we know we’ve got to be better. Maybe a little nervous energy to start for us. Once we started to get going, we showed that our depth is really key.”

Mark Scheifele had a goal and two assists, and Josh Morrissey had a goal and an assist for the Jets, who are the No. 2 seed from the Central Division. Connor Hellebuyck made 40 saves.

“Listen, we’ll never complain about a win, especially this time of year,” Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. “It wasn’t exactly how we drew it up, but if that’s the way it goes, that’s the way it goes. Their top guys took over, our top guys took over. It was just the type of game that it evolved into, and you play it out and we found a way to get the win. So, we’ll take it.”

Cale Makar had a goal and two assists, and Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen each had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who are the No. 3 seed from the Central. Alexandar Georgiev made 16 saves.

“[Georgiev’s game] probably needed to be better, right?” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “I thought we played well, we created some chances. He made some good saves, but we’re [going to] need like a couple more saves than that probably to win, you know? But it is what it is. We’ll regroup. We made some mistakes in front of him that we’ll have to clean up and try to get the job done. It’s a team game.”

Game 2 will be in Winnipeg on Tuesday.

Valeri Nichushkin gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 6:10 of the first period, carrying the puck into the offensive zone and beating Hellebuyck with a wrist shot from just above the right face-off dot.

“You're not tagging any of those goals on [Hellebuyck],” Bowness said. "Some of them had seeing eyes, some of them were bouncing all over the place, some of them were just dead giveaways on our part. You're not hanging any of those on him. It could have been worse. Seriously. We don't give up that many chances. We don't give up that many shots. And Connor had to play better and he made a lot of big saves at the right time, which he always does. I'm not hanging any of those goals on him."

Morrissey tied it 1-1 at 8:02. The Jets cycled the puck along the blue line before Morrissey floated a wrist shot through traffic that beat Georgiev glove side.

“That’s what playoffs is. Both teams got to push each other and both teams pushing to the brink and make teams play different ways,” Makar said. “Unfortunately, all the mistakes that we made ended up in the back of our net. That’s just the way she goes sometimes. A couple things to clean up and then turn the page.”

Vladislav Namestnikov put Winnipeg in front 2-1 at 11:57. Josh Manson tried to clear the puck along the end boards, but Alex Iafallo deflected it to Namestnikov for a one-timer in front.

“That’s why you want to play the game, you want to play against the best and showcase at the highest stage,” Connor said. “Every one of us -- we have a really deep team -- to kind of contribute like that, it’s part of the fun.”

The Avalanche then scored two goals in a span of 18 seconds. Miles Wood tied it 2-2 at 14:47 with a one-timer in the slot before MacKinnon made it 3-2 with a wrist shot from the left circle at 15:05.

“I thought our start was great tonight,” Bednar said. “We haven't played the Jets well this year. We played a good game early in the season, but that's our first taste of us playing hard and them playing hard and seeing what's going to happen. And it's a seven-game series. I don't think a whole lot changed for us from start to finish. I thought our guys played as hard as they possibly could and as clean as they possibly could.”

Scheifele tied it 3-3 just 48 seconds later. Gabriel Vilardi took the puck from behind the net and slid it across the crease to Scheifele for a tap in at the right post at 15:53.

“It was a lot of emotions,” Georgiev said. “Couple great chances for them, couple great chances for us. It was kind of a high-event game. Being tied up after the first was a pretty good position for us.”

Lowry made it 4-3 at 8:57 of the second period, keeping the puck on a 2-on-1 rush and shooting between Georgiev’s pads.

“[Lowry] has been a great leader for the team on and off the ice,” Bowness said. “He was a great choice for captain. He loves these challenges. He’s going up against one of the best players in the world, not necessarily the League but the world in Nate [MacKinnon]. So, he loves those challenges and he takes his game to another level. The intensity is always there and it was certainly there tonight and it’s nice to see him get rewarded with a couple of goals, because he worked incredibly hard. When you’re playing against the Mackinnon line, you’re going to have to work very, very hard and you’re going to have to be very, very smart, and Adam did those things for us tonight."

Lowry extended it to 5-3 at 3:31 of the third period. He took a pass in the right circle, drove to the net and stuffed the puck around Georgiev’s outstretched right pad. A video review determined that the puck crossed the goal line after hitting both posts.

“The offense was nice,” Lowry said. “What we gave up, I think we spent a lot of time in our end. And we gave some up off the rush. I look back at that first shift in the third period where he rings one off the post, they get some chances like that. Me, [Mason Appleton] and [Nino Niederreiter], we want to spend a little more time in their zone, wear them down in the cycle. I think there's going to be some tweaks.”

Connor pushed it to 6-3 at 5:51, scoring with a one timer from the right circle on the power play.

“We battle all season to get in this position and you’ve got to enjoy it,” Connor said. “You’ve got to relish the pressure that comes with it and you want to be coming through for your team and yourself.”

Lehkonen cut it to 6-4 at 6:29 when he redirected Makar’s point shot past Hellebuyck on the power play.

“I think that’s the thing with a team as talented as Colorado, is for us it’s about taking away the middle,” Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon said. “We want to take away the important ice. When you’ve got players as talented as them, it’s not that you’re necessarily going to eliminate all the chances, but you’re just going to try to cut those down and limit them as much as you can. It’s going to be tough challenge. It’s going to be a long series, but we’ve just got to be ready for it.”

Connor made it 7-4 at 8:54 with a one-timer from the slot off a pass from Vilardi from below the goal line.

“When you get into a track meet like that, it’s a tough game to play but it’s a lot of fun,” Vilardi said. “Our team’s gotta follow it up. We’ve got the best goalie in the world and they’ve got the best player in the world, in my opinion. We’ve got to try and slow them down.”

Makar’s power-play goal, a wrist shot from the point through traffic, cut it to 7-5 at 12:24.

“Mindset-wise, we’re right there,” Makar said. ”They played really well and they’re going to capitalize on everything we give up. So for us, we’ve got to start doing the same, and at times tonight we did that.”

Casey Mittelstadt batted in a loose puck at the top of the crease with 30 seconds remaining for the 7-6 final.

“We were up at certain times in the game and then we kind of (made) a couple mistakes and they’re right back in it,” Makar said. “They’re a team that’s going to capitalize on all those little things, so for us, it’s just cleaning those up and making sure this next game we dial that in a little bit. But overall, to me, they’re a good team and we stuck with it. It was a good game.”

NOTES: Only two other Game 1s in an opening-round series have combined for at least 13 goals. The Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings combined for 18 in 1982, and the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings scored 14 in 1985. … Avalanche goalie Justus Annunen was ruled out due to an illness just before puck drop. Bednar had no update postgame. Arvid Holm, who has not appeared in an NHL game, served as the backup. … Makar (50 assists in 62 games) became the third-fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach 50 playoff assists, behind Bobby Orr (59 games) and Al MacInnis (61 games). … Mikko Rantanen recorded his 58th playoff assist, passing Peter Stastny for third in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history.