Recap: Colorado Avalanche @ Winnipeg Jets

The Winnipeg Jets were hosting the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday evening, with the outcome possibly determining who sits atop the Central Division. Our hometown Jets received a bit of break when the Avs’ Cale Makar was unable to go tonight and they would also be facing a young backup goaltender in Ivan Prosvetov. The 24 year old has played well in 9 outings for Colorado, putting up a .919 save percentage, so Winnipeg would still have to put in the work to come out victorious on True North’s South Asian Heritage night.

The Avalanche opened the game with an early rush and the Jets countered with a chance of their own. Ehlers skated the puck up the ice before finding Morrissey with a pass in the high slot, but the defenseman’s shot sailed just wide of the goal. Both squads were playing top-notch defense early and it took 3 minutes before either goalie was required to make a save. Colorado had a look on Hellebuyck when a forward skated the puck to the top of the right face-off circle, before forcing Bucky to deflect a blast with his blocker. Winnipeg responded when Scheifele lifted an Avs’ player’s stick in the neutral zone to steal the puck and then sprung Vilardi with a pass. The big winger wasn’t going to be able to get in on a clear breakaway, so he tested Prosvetov with a shot low blocker side. The squads traded offensive zone shifts that saw Hellebuyck make a save through a bunch of people in front, followed by a Scheifele line cycle that was frustrated by blocked shots. The Lowry trio followed up with some offensive board work of their own and Morrissey came close when his point shot deflected wide off a body in front. Winnipeg seemed to be controlling the play a bit more as we entered the mid-point of the period, but Colorado was very adept at denying shot lanes. With 7 minutes remaining, the shots were 4 to 2 for the Avs and the Gustafsson line almost opened up the scoring when Schmidt hit Barron with a pass on the fly at the blueline. The big East Coaster split the defense and was in all alone of the goalie, but his backhand move didn’t create enough space to jam the puck home. A bit later, Morrissey won a battle along the left neutral zone boards and skated the puck into the Avs’ zone. The smooth-skating defender cut towards the middle of the ice before hitting Scheifele with a pass in the right face-off circle. The center didn’t have the puck long, as he quickly spotted Vilardi driving to the net from…