The Winnipeg Jets have a deep group of forwards, an excellent top pairing on defense and one of the best goalies in the world.
They don’t have Cale Makar.
Between yet another onslaught of power plays for the Avs against the suddenly undisciplined Jets, Makar scored one of the best goals of his distinguished NHL career. It highlighted both another dominant performance by the Avalanche in a 5-1 victory to take a 3-1 lead in this opening-round series and the difference in star power at the top of these two lineups. Game 5 is Tuesday night at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, where the Avs will have the first of up to three chances to knock out the Jets and advance to the second round.
“He’s the best for a reason. That’s what he does,” Avs forward Casey Mittelstadt said. “Makes plays in big spots. I thought he was just amazing tonight — as usual, but tonight especially.”
Winnipeg has great NHL players. The Jets had a great regular season, finishing with 107 points and earning home-ice advantage in this series.
The Jets just don’t have a collection of stars quite like Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and friends. And unlike the regular season, that has mattered in this series, particularly because the Avs’ big guns been backed up by a relentless commitment to checking and frustrating the opponent up and down the lineup.
Makar collected the puck in his own end and started a one-man breakout. Adam Lowry — Winnipeg’s best defensive forward and captain — actually knocked the puck off Makar’s stick as he entered the neutral zone. It didn’t matter. Makar settled the puck, using his body to get back down to the ice without slowing down.
Then he deked past a defender, skated into a 1-on-2 situation and still found enough space in the right circle for a wrist shot into the top-left corner of the net. It was a breathtaking, forever highlight kind of play and it gave the Avs a 3-1 lead.
“I think our forwards pushed back their ‘D’ so much,” Makar said. “I think my first option I was looking at was kicking it out to Mikko on my right and then once I saw that ‘D’ backed off quite a bit, I just tried to throw it to the net. I wanted to get it far side and hopefully there would at least be a rebound or something like that.”
Just like two days prior, this was a mostly even game with the Avs controlling the puck more until the Jets started a parade to the penalty box. It just happened one period earlier in this one.
Winnipeg took four penalties in the second. The Avs didn’t score on the first, took one of their own to negate the second, and then Colorado’s stars went to work.
Valeri Nichushkin scored twice as part of a hat trick — once to give the Avs a 2-1 lead and once to put a punctuation mark on a dominant 10-minute stretch with Makar’s magic in between.
Nichushkin tipped a point shot from Makar at 11:36 of the second. Then he pounced on a deft Artturi Lehkonen pass off the rebound of a Nathan MacKinnon shot with 24 seconds left in the middle frame to make it a three-goal advantage.
“When he’s moving his legs, he’s one of the best players in the league,” Makar said. “For us right now, being able to retrieve those pucks and then (he) make plays with it is such a high-end skill and especially in the playoffs. When Val is using his body right and skating well, it’s a pretty special player to watch.”
Lehkonen scored the first Colorado goal of the game 8:10 into the opening period after a beautiful play by Casey Mittelstadt. The Avs’ big trade deadline acquisition at forward in 2024 collected the puck behind the Winnipeg net, deked past Logan Stanley and then sent a pass to their big 2022 deadline add in front at the far post.
It was Lehkonen’s fourth goal in four games in this series. He led the team at that point, but Nichushkin’s hatty gave him six.
Colorado’s depth has been outstanding in this series, helping to cover what could have been a major Winnipeg advantage. Ditto for Alexandar Georgiev, who outplayed the pending 2024 Vezina Trophy winner, Connor Hellebuyck, for the third straight game and finished with 26 saves.
But the Avs are averaging more than five goals per game against the stingiest team in the NHL during the regular season — a club that held them to just four goals in three matchups — because their top offensive players are showing out.
Makar leads the way with eight points. MacKinnon and Lehkonen have seven. Nichushkin has six. Mittelstadt and Mikko Rantanen have five each.
Hellebuyck watched the third period of this one from the bench. Whether he, or his Jets teammates, can find a way to get back into this series remains to be seen.
They look a long way off the pace after two star-studded performances here in Denver.
“I’ve really liked all four games from our group,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “We made some mistakes in Game 1. We made less in Game 2. We made less in Game 3. We probably made less here tonight on the defensive side of things. But our compete level and the intensity that we’re playing with, the speed and pace we’re playing with, the commitment that the team has playing with, has been great in all four games.”
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