The Colorado Avalanche have spent two periods chasing the game, and Winnipeg has made them pay for it.
A strong penalty kill has been one of the few steady points for Colorado, but the bigger problem has been the Avalanche’s five-on-five play. Too many shifts have been spent scrambling in their own end, and after a sloppy first period the Jets added another goal in the second to take a 2-0 lead.
Winnipeg got the first crack on the power play when Brett Kulak was called for hooking just past the midpoint of the opening period. The Jets put Scott Wedgewood under immediate pressure, but Colorado’s penalty killers held up.
Alex Gagne got in front of one shot, and Parker Kelly blocked two more, including one that broke his stick. It was the kind of sacrifice-heavy sequence that can swing a playoff game, and even in the preseason it stood out as a clean kill for the Avalanche.
That was about the high point for Colorado early on. As the period moved along, the Avalanche had trouble winning defensive-zone faceoffs, kept chasing pucks around their own end and handed Winnipeg too many dangerous turnovers and loose passes in front of Wedgewood. The goalie was forced into awkward saves while the Jets kept firing away.
Noah Juulsen helped steady things at times by getting his stick in passing lanes and knocking pucks away, though a few of his own passes also put Colorado in tough spots. Still, his disruption gave the Avalanche a chance to survive stretches that could have gone worse.
Eventually, Winnipeg broke through. With 1:05 left in the period, Gabriel Vilardi found room in the slot and hammered a one-timer past Wedgewood for the 1-0 lead. The Jets finished the opening frame with a 9-4 edge in shots, and Colorado had little to show for a period defined by puck chasing and breakdowns in its own zone.
The second period brought more activity, but not the kind Colorado needed. Alex Gagne created the first real look of the frame with a hard wrist shot, but Jets goaltender Stuart Skinner caught it cleanly and seemed to say a few words afterward.
Colorado then went to the power play when Winnipeg’s Davis Burnside was called for hooking, but the advantage quickly turned messy. Cole Koepke forced a turnover that sent the Jets the other way, and Winnipeg fired three shots on Wedgewood before Colorado could settle things down. Wedgewood stopped all three and kept the deficit at one.
The tone got chippier from there. Fabian Lysell was called for cross-checking Mario Ferraro twice in the back, and Ferraro clearly let him know he wasn’t happy about it.
Then, after Gustav Stjernberg flattened Vladislav Namestnikov at the blue line, Namestnikov jumped in to back up Lysell and roughed him up. Both players were sent off.
That sequence produced a brief 4-on-4 stretch before Winnipeg was hit with a too-many-men penalty, sending Colorado back to the power play. Adam Beckman got a chance from the right circle on the ensuing play, but Skinner was right there to stop it.
Colorado kept looking for a way through late in the period. Sam Malinski tried to spark something after a faceoff win, carrying across the blue line and ripping a wrist shot toward goal, but Skinner handled that one too.
Winnipeg then stretched the lead late when Mark Scheifele slipped a perfect backhand pass to Cole Perfetti at the backdoor, and Perfetti finished with a slick wrister to make it 2-0.
In Other News...
Avalanche Got An Early Roster Boost Fans Will Want To See
The Avalanche got an encouraging look at some fresh faces in their preseason win over the Utah Mammoth, a 4-1 result that came together after a slow start and a much better finish. Colorado was held off the board early, then found its rhythm in the final two periods, where the offense took over and turned the game into a comfortable showcase of depth and energy.
Beckett Hamilton and Taylor Makar both scored in their preseason debuts, giving the Avalanche an early boost from players trying to carve out their place in camp. Ilya Nabokov also gave Colorado something to build on, stopping 16 shots after replacing Mackenzie Blackwood, and the kind of balanced showing the Avalanche want to see now is whether any of those performances can carry beyond one solid preseason night. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Suddenly Have A Real Taylor Makar Roster Decision
Taylor Makar has turned the early part of Avalanche camp into something worth paying attention to. The seventh-round pick from the 2021 NHL Draft has been noticeable in preseason play, and his combination of size and skill has put him into the conversation for a possible roster spot. He has not produced NHL points yet, but he is giving Colorado something it did not necessarily expect this quickly: a real decision on how to handle him.
The Avalanche still have options, and the most likely path may be a start in the AHL with a chance to be summoned when needed. Even so, the way Makar has performed has raised a bigger question about where he fits if he stays in Denver, since Colorado may be looking at something more than a standard fourth-line role. However the team sorts it out, his camp has made him more than just a developmental name on the list. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Preseason Opener Put Early Pressure On A Crowded Roster
The Avalanches preseason opener offered an early look at how crowded the roster picture already is, and Jared Bednar leaned into it by dressing a mostly veteran lineup against Utah. Beckett Hamilton centered the top line, Nathan MacKinnon sat out, and Colorado still rolled to a 4-1 win, a solid first step in a camp where every shift can matter for players trying to separate themselves.
Between the pipes, Mackenzie Blackwood and Ilya Nabokov each helped make the night look comfortable. Blackwood stopped all seven shots he faced before giving way to Nabokov, who turned aside 16 of 17 the rest of the way, and that kind of tandem effort only adds to the sense that Bednar has real decisions ahead as the Avalanche sort through the rest of preseason. [Read more 🡒]