T.J. Hughes Scores Hat Trick, Leads Avalanche Past Jets 5-2 in Preseason Action

Fantastic Friday

T.J. Hughes recorded a hat trick and an assist to help the Avalanche defeat the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 in preseason action at Ball Arena on Friday. Jaden Schwartz also posted a goal and two assists and Cale Makar added a tally for Colorado. Additionally, Nazem Kadri posted a pair of helpers while Artturi Lehkonen, Nathan MacKinnon, Brett Kulak, Fedor Svechkov and Devon Toews each added an assist. In net for the Avalanche, Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 20 of the 22 shots he faced.

"It's awesome," Gabriel Landeskog said about Hughes' hat trick. "It's well deserved. Obviously, it's a guy that's come in [and] understood what an opportunity is ahead of him, and he's made the most of it. He's had a great [training] camp, and he had a great game tonight...He's looked great. [He's a] smart player, skilled player and he's got a lot of good parts of his game."

How It Happened

Winnipeg's Nino Niederreiter opened the scoring at 6:15 of the first period with a power-play goal via a shot from the right doorstep.

The Avalanche tied the game at 6:07 of the second period when Jaden Schwartz scored his first goal of the preseason with a deflection from the left slot, assisted by Hughes' left-circle feed.

The Jets took a 2-1 lead at 7:36 of the middle frame when Vladislav Namestnikov scored with a shot from the doorstep.

Hughes tied the game at 18:28 with his first goal of the preseason via a shot from the slot off the rush set up by Nazem Kadri's feed.

Colorado took a 3-2 lead at 19:49 of the middle frame when Hughes scored his second goal of the game with a backhand shot from just above the left goal line.

After being outshot 9-7 in the first period, Colorado recorded 14 shots on goal in the second frame, compared to Winnipeg's 10. 

Makar doubled Colorado's lead at 15:25 of the third period with his first goal of the preseason via a one-timer from the slot set up by MacKinnon's feed to finish off a tic-tac-toe sequence.

Hughes completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal at 19:38 of the third period.

Next Up

The Avalanche concludes its preseason play with a road game on Saturday against the Utah Mammoth at 3 p.m. MDT on Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM.