Lowry and Connor propel Jets to 7-6 playoff win over Avalanche

Connor Hellebuyck made 39 saves for the Jets, who are riding a nine-game win streak.

Cale Makar had a goal and two assists for Colorado. Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen each scored a goal and one assist. Valeri Nichushkin, Miles Wood and Casey Mittelstadt also scored. Mikko Rantanen provided two helpers.

The Avalanche entered the series having lost all three regular season games against Winnipeg.

Alexander Georgiev stopped 16 of 23 shots he faced for Colorado, which is trying to repeat its 2022 Stanley Cup championship. He was assisted by Arvid Holm instead of Justus Annunen, who was not present at the morning skate.

Winnipeg finished three points ahead of Colorado in the Central Division, and parity quickly proved itself.

The first period ended in a 3-3 draw, with the teams combining to score three goals in 66 seconds.

With a 10-1 lead in shots on goal, Nichushkin shot the puck high over Hellebuyck’s blocker at 6:10, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Morrissey tied the score just under two minutes later when his point shot went past Georgiev through traffic.

The teams then scored four goals in just under four minutes, three of which came in just over a minute.

Namestnikov got the shotfest started at 11:57 when his go-ahead goal had the crowd roaring.

Wood tied the score at 14:47, MacKinnon scored for the 3-2 lead at 15:05 and Scheifele tied the score at 15:53.

Wood’s goal was the 1,000th playoff goal for the Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques franchise.

Lowry scored the only goal of the second period.

The Jets captain entered a two-on-one with Mason Appleton but failed to pass and fired the puck between Georgiev’s pads to take a 4-3 lead at 8:57.

Lowry’s second goal of the match had to be reviewed when the puck hit one post, went over the other post and then slid along the goal line and hit the post again before bouncing out. It counted as crossing the line at 3:31.

Connor and Lehkonen traded power-play goals to make it 6-4 at 6:29, but Connor added his second marker just over two minutes later. Makar then scored an unassisted goal on the man advantage for the 7-5 score at 12:24.

Mittelstadt topped it off with a goal with 30 seconds left.

IN GOOD COMPANY

Mark Scheifele’s first-period goal was his 20th career playoff goal, scored in his 38th game.

Only three active players have achieved that goal in fewer games. Alex Ovechkin did it in 26 games, Jake Guentzel in 32 and Connor McDavid in 36 games.

NEXT ONE

Game 2 is Tuesday night in Winnipeg.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2024.

Judy Owen, The Canadian Press