Jets 'not satisfied' heading into Game 3 against Avalanche

WINNIPEG -- The Winnipeg Jets haven't truly played their game yet in the Western Conference First Round, and that could be bad news for the Colorado Avalanche.

Winnipeg hasn't been that stifling, defense-first team that entered the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a head of steam after winning its final eight games of the regular season.

"The type of group we are, I think we're never really satisfied," Jets forward Kyle Connor said after a 5-2 loss to the Avalanche in Game 2 at Canada Life Centre evened the best-of-7 series.

"If you talk to 'Bones' (Jets coach Rick Bowness), it's always something to improve on. Yeah, we took some strides compared to last game defensively, but at the same time, I thought we had more zone time last game and created a lot more offense. So, at the same time, you're never going to be satisfied completely with your game, you want to strive. That's what makes this group so successful. We look at the hard things. It starts with Bones. He's on us. Even after that first win, he was going over stuff that we can improve on."

The Jets allowed an average of 2.41 goals per game in the regular season, tied for first in the NHL with the Florida Panthers, although Winnipeg allowed a League-low 199 goals (including shootout-deciding goals). The Avalanche, who led the League in scoring 3.68 goals per game, have scored 11 goals in the first two games of this series. The Jets' 5.50 goals against per game average is 15th among 16 playoff teams, ahead of only the Los Angeles Kings, who allowed seven goals in their only game thus far.

Connor Hellebuyck was 37-19-4 with a 2.39 goals-against average, .921 save percentage and five shutouts in 60 regular-season games, ranking in the top five in wins, GAA, save percentage and shutouts among qualified goalies (minimum 25 games). However, in the first two games against the Avalanche, he has allowed 10 goals on 77 shots (5.04 GAA, .870 save percentage).

But as Bowness pointed out, the Jets had chances in the second period, right before Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen tied it 2-2, and have to capitalize on those opportunities moving forward.

"We had them hemmed in their zone a little bit at times last night, we didn't take full advantage of it," Bowness said Wednesday. "But you want to go back and nitpick, like it's 2-1 (Jets), we go down, (Connor) hits the post, Gabe (Vilardi) hits a rebound. We need those to go in. And then that last couple minutes, we kind of self-inflicted the problem. So, we correct those and get some more chances and go from there."

The first two games, including a 7-6 win by the Jets in Game 1, were played inside the raucous Canada Life Centre. The Jets will enter an equally crazed atmosphere in Game 3 at Ball Arena in Denver on Friday (10 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, ALT, TVAS, CBC).

The Avalanche went 31-9-1 at home during the regular season, had the most home victories of any NHL team, and will get last change.

"Nothing we can do. We're going to win some faceoffs, then we can control it," Bowness said.

The Jets are ready for it all.

"Every team tries to make their home arena a tough place to play and certainly, they've been able to do that this year. With the players they have, maybe their matching (lines). I haven't watched all 41 of their home games to tell you what they did well in those ones. But in the games we've played, we changed our focus when we're on the road to maybe not being so worried about the match and just understanding who you're on the ice with," Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said Wednesday.

"But as players, you're going out there and just trying to do your job as best you can. We know they feel good playing at home, and we've had some success playing there this year (4-2 win on Dec. 7, 7-0 win on April 13). So, we need to be a confident group going in there on Friday night."

The Jets came away from Winnipeg with a split in the series. They made some mistakes on which the Avalanche capitalized in Game 2, much like the Jets did on Colorado miscues in Game 1. They have some areas they want to clean up, but are confident they can do it.

"We know it's going to be a good crowd in Colorado. We just have to continue to work on our game and continue to find what makes us us," Jets forward Mark Scheifele said Tuesday. "They are a fantastic team over there, so you've got to give them a lot of credit. They did a lot of good things. They blocked a lot of shots, and they made it tough to get anything going (in Game 2).

"That's the fun part of the playoffs. We weren't expecting this to be an easy series. They're a great team over there. We've just got to continue to roll with the punches."