2. Special teams struggles
The issues with the penalty kill and power play carried over from the regular season, when Winnipeg was 22nd on the power play (18.8 percent) and 21st on the penalty kill (77.1 percent). Against the Avalanche, the Jets were 10-for-16 on the penalty kill (62.5 percent), allowing two power-play goals against in each of Game 1 (0-for-2), Game 3 (4-for-6), and Game 4 (2-for-4).
Winnipeg was 3-for-13 with the man-advantage in the series, including three games when it went 1-for-2 on the power play. But in Games 2 and 4, the Jets were held scoreless with the man-advantage, missing out on seven power-play opportunities in those two games combined.
3. Top players didn't shine
The Jets had their offense clicking in a wild 7-6 win in Game 1, but they scored eight goals combined over the next four games. After Winnipeg's top line combined for three goals and eight points in Game 1, including a goal on the power play, Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, and Gabriel Vilardi scored just two more times in the rest of the series.
Sean Monahan and Tyler Toffoli were brought in prior to the NHL Trade Deadline to bolster the second line with Nikolaj Ehlers. But when it mattered most, Monahan (one assist), Toffoli (two goals), and Ehlers (two assists) did not provide the scoring support the Jets desperately needed when facing the offensively deep and talented Avalanche.
4. Georgiev elevates play
Questions loomed large surrounding Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev and whether or not he had the ability to keep the Jets offense at bay. Though he led the NHL with 38 wins this season, his .897 save percentage in the regular season was tied for 48th among qualified NHL goaltenders (20 games).
In the final regular-season game between the Jets and Avalanche on April 13, Georgiev was pulled in the first period after allowing four goals on 15 shots in a 7-0 home loss. Then in Game 1, he allowed seven goals on 23 shots in the lone loss for the Avalanche in the series.
Just when things looked most bleak for Colorado's defensive play, Georgiev help flip the script and had a 2.00 goals-against average and .932 save percentage in four straight victories to help capture the series.
5. Hellebuyck looks human
Connor Hellebuyck is a Vezina Trophy finalist and won the William M. Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals per game in the NHL this season among qualified goalies (25 games). In Hellebuyck's 60 games (third in the NHL), all starts, he had a 2.39 GAA, .921 save percentage and five shutouts -- all ranked in the top five in the NHL in the regular season among qualifying goaltenders.
He allowed at least four goals in each of the five games after allowing at least four goals 10 times in his 60 games in the regular season.
Hellebuyck was under siege from the start against Colorado's overall speed and physicality throughout the series. The Jets may have relied on their Vezina-caliber goalie a little too much, and he was far from the sole reason they faltered in Round 1 with the entire team looking inexperienced, a far cry from their reputation as a tough and defensively structured opponent.
