The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs features 16 teams in eight best-of-7 series, which start Saturday. Today, NHL.com previews the Western Conference First Round between the Colorado Avalanche and Winnipeg Jets.
(2C) Winnipeg Jets vs. (3C) Colorado Avalanche
Jets: 52-24-6, 110 points
Avalanche: 50-25-7, 107 points
Season series: WPG: 3-0-0, COL: 0-3-0
Game 1: Sunday, 7 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, ESPN2
They've had plenty of regular-season matchups in the Central Division, but now the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche will meet for the first time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It's the sixth time in the past seven seasons the Jets have qualified for the postseason. Last season, they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights in five games in the best-of-7 Western Conference First Round.
The Avalanche, who have qualified for the playoffs seven straight seasons and won the Stanley Cup in 2022, last season lost in the first round in seven games to the Seattle Kraken, who were making their first postseason appearance.
The Jets endured a six-game skid (0-5-1) at the end of March but have rebounded in April with a season-closing eight-game winning streak, including a 7-0 victory against the Avalanche on April 13.
"I don't think you can look at a single team in this League and say they had a perfect season; you have ups and downs all the time," Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck said. "Playoffs is one of those things where you want to be hot at the right time. I've been in the League long enough to know it and feel it.
"We walked into St. Louis [in 2019], we had a really good team, they got hot at the right time and look what they did. Our main focus is ourselves right now. Feel right and don't lose it."
Colorado is looking to get hot again after dealing with a frustrating few weeks; it is 4-5-2 since March 26, including a 4-3 overtime loss to Vegas on Sunday, a game the Avalanche led 3-0 entering the third period.
Nevertheless, Colorado remains a dangerous group, especially with the League's top offense (3.68 goals per game).
"We can't seem to find ways to put it together unfortunately," Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar said Sunday. "We've got a week to solve the problem."
Game breakers
Jets: Mark Scheifele continues to be one of the steadiest contributors in the NHL and led Winnipeg with 72 points (25 goals, 47 assists) in 74 games this season. That includes 18 power-play points, third on the Jets behind forward Kyle Connor and defenseman Josh Morrissey, who each had 19. The 31-year-old is averaging 0.97 points per game this season, the eighth consecutive season he's averaged more than 0.85 points per game.
Avalanche: Nathan MacKinnon had another tremendous season. The center reached 50 goals for the first time in his career, and his 140 points (51 goals, 89 assists) were second in the NHL behind Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov (144 points), and set a single-season Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques record.
Goaltending
Jets: Hellebuyck continues to be one of the best goalies in the NHL. The 30-year-old has once again gotten a bulk of the workload, going 37-19-4 with five shutouts in 60 games this season. Among goalies to play at least 30 games, he led the NHL with a .921 save percentage and was third with a 2.39 goals-against average. It won't be surprising if he's once again a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the goalie voted best in the NHL, which he won in 2019-20. He was a finalist in 2017-18, and again last season. Backup Laurent Brossoit was 15-5-2 with a 2.00 GAA, .927 save percentage and three shutouts in 23 games.
Avalanche: Alexandar Georgiev has had his struggles this season; the 28-year-old was 38-18-5 with a 3.02 GAA, .897 save percentage and two shutouts in 63 games (62 starts). It's likely not a question of workload, because he had the same last season when he was 40-16-6 with a 2.53 GAA, .919 save percentage and five shutouts in 62 games. It's just that the consistency hasn't been there. Backup Justus Annunen was 8-4-1 with a 2.25 GAA, .928 save percentage and two shutouts in 14 games.
Numbers to know
Jets: Winnipeg allowed 2.41 goals per game this season, tied with the Florida Panthers for the fewest in the NHL. It's a solid improvement from last season when the Jets were 10th in the League (2.73), and a huge jump compared to 2021-22, when they were 20th (3.09).
Avalanche: Makar's average of 1.07 points per game during the playoffs is second all-time among NHL defensemen (minimum 30 games played), behind Bobby Orr (1.24). Nathan MacKinnon (1.30, third) and Mikko Rantanen (1.24, tied for fifth) are among the top seven skaters in points per game in the playoffs (minimum 50 games).
X-factors
Jets: Nikolaj Ehlers was limited to one playoff game last season because of injury when Winnipeg lost to Vegas. This season, the forward tied Scheifele for the Winnipeg lead in even-strength points (54), and he led the Jets with 233 shots on goal. He could continue to be a crucial secondary scorer and beneficiary of Winnipeg's trades for forwards Tyler Toffoli and Sean Monahan. Ehlers had five points (one goal, four assists) in three games against the Avalanche this season. -- Pete Jensen
Avalanche: Valeri Nichushkin was on a leave of absence for the final five games of Colorado's first-round series last season, when it lost in seven games to Seattle. Nichushkin nearly averaged a point per game (53 points in 54 games) this season but missed time while in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, and also because of an injury later in the season. With Nichushkin, the Avalanche are better positioned for another deep playoff run; he had 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in 20 postseason games to help them win the Cup in 2022, including six points (four goals, two assists) in six games during the Stanley Cup Final. -- Pete Jensen
They said it
"It's not time to hold your head. You've got to find solutions, you've got to dig in and be better. I think it starts competitively, starts physicality-wise. The playoffs is another notch. [The Jets] showed up [Saturday], and they played a playoff game it seemed like, and we didn't. So we’ve got a good taste of what we're going to see." -- Avalanche forward Andrew Cogliano
"We didn't see Colorado's A-game, we saw their C-game. They're a great hockey team and they showed it [Saturday]. They went the next day in Vegas, I know they ended up losing in overtime [4-3], but they battled a lot harder. They recognize they had a bad game and they fixed it. We're not going to be fooled by a 7-0 game in Colorado; that's a one-off for them, and that's how we have to look at it.” -- Jets coach Rick Bowness
Will win if …
Jets: They can hold off the Avalanche's high-powered offense. They've done well in that capacity during the regular season, but the playoffs are different. Colorado is going to be hungry, especially after the lopsided loss to Winnipeg in the final week of the regular season. The Jets will need everyone playing great defense in front of Hellebuyck.
Avalanche: If Georgiev rights the ship. Colorado checks off a ton of boxes. But its goaltending is the big question mark. If Georgiev gets his consistency back, the Avalanche will advance to the second round.
