The Colorado Avalanche will play the Winnipeg Jets in the Western Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Home-ice advantage for the best-of-7 series will go to the team that finishes higher in the Central Division. The Jets (50-24-6) are second, one point ahead of the Avalanche (49-25-7).
The playoffs begin April 20.
Winnipeg won all three games against Colorado this season, including 7-0 on Saturday.
Defenseman Josh Morrissey led the Jets against the Avalanche with seven points (two goals, five assists), and forward Nikolaj Ehlers had five points (one goal, four assists). Gabriel Vilardi and Adam Lowry each had three goals, and Kyle Connor and Sean Monahan each had two. Connor Hellebuyck was 3-0-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .939 save percentage.
Forward Nathan MacKinnon led the Avalanche with four points (one goal, three assists), and was the only skater with more than one point in the season series. Alexandar Georgiev allowed three goals on 27 shots in a 4-2 loss on Dec. 7, and four goals on 15 shots before being pulled in the 7-0 loss; backup Justus Annunen allowed three goals on 12 shots in relief of the 7-0 loss in his only appearance against the Jets. Ivan Prosvetov allowed five goals on 24 shots in a 6-2 loss on Dec. 16.
The teams have never played each other in the playoffs.
The Jets lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round last season in five games; the Avalanche lost to the Seattle Kraken in the first round in seven games.
This season, the Jets are led by forward Mark Scheifele with 70 points (25 goals, 45 assists), Morrissey with 67 points (10 goals, 57 assists), and Connor (32 goals, 27 assists) and Ehlers (24 goals, 35 assists) with 59 points each. Hellebuyck is 36-19-4 with a 2.38 GAA, .922 save percentage and five shutouts in 59 starts. Backup Laurent Brossoit is 14-5-2 with a 2.00 GAA, .928 save percentage and three shutouts in 22 games (21 starts).
The Avalanche are led by MacKinnon, who is second in the NHL with 138 points (51 goals, 87 assists), forward Mikko Rantanen with 103 points (41 goals, 62 assists) and defenseman Cale Makar with 89 points (21 goals, 68 assists). Georgiev is 38-18-5 with a 3.02 GAA, .897 save percentage and two shutouts in 63 games (62 starts) this season. Annunen is 7-4-1 with a 2.35 GAA, .925 save percentage and two shutouts in 13 games (11 starts).
Colorado has won the Stanley Cup three times, the last coming in 2022. Winnipeg has never won the Cup or been to the Stanley Cup Final.
