The Avalanche had control for long stretches in Winnipeg on Wednesday, but the night turned on one late shift and left Colorado with a 3-2 loss at Canada Life Centre.
Kyle Connor buried the go-ahead goal with 60 seconds left in regulation, scoring on only the second shot Mackenzie Blackwood faced in the third period. Colorado never answered, and a game that had looked manageable for much of the night slipped away. The defeat dropped the Avalanche to 2-1-0, with the second half of a back-to-back waiting Thursday in Calgary.
Jaden Schwartz and Fedor Svechkov scored for Colorado, and both picked up their first goals in an Avalanche uniform. Blackwood finished with 16 saves. Stuart Skinner stopped 32 of 34 shots.
The game’s decisive stretch came after Svechkov tied it 2-2, only for Connor to strike 6:25 later. Mark Scheifele set up the winner, and Connor snapped it past Blackwood for his second goal of the night and league-leading fifth in four games.
Winnipeg had grabbed control late in the second period. Schwartz opened the scoring, Connor answered 70 seconds later, and Cole Perfetti put the Jets ahead 2-1 at 18:16 of the middle frame.
Colorado went 0-for-1 on the power play and was perfect on the penalty kill, finishing 2-for-2. Skinner was sharp early, turning aside all 17 shots he saw in the opening period.
Connor’s late winner was the kind of play Colorado will replay over and over. It came off a shift Sam Malinski probably wants back, and it cost the Avalanche at least a point.
At that stage of the game, the margin was simple: get to overtime and collect something, or make one mistake and give it all away. Colorado got the mistake.
There was still plenty to like from the Avalanche’s supporting cast. Schwartz and Svechkov both got on the board while Colorado’s top six couldn’t solve Skinner. Schwartz has already flashed what he can add, including two assists on opening night, and he’s looked comfortable around the crease on the power play.
Svechkov’s goal carried a little more weight. He scored just four times and totaled 17 points in 70 games last season, and he’s still trying to establish himself in the NHL like other young forwards such as T.J.
Hughes and Zachary L’Heureux. Getting his first Avalanche goal this early gives him a start, and Colorado will want more consistency from him if he’s going to lock down a long-term role in the bottom six.
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