Jets at Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche have rebounded from their first loss of the season with three straight wins, and they look to make it four when they host the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday. The Avalanche lead the league in goals-against average (1.4), stand sixth in scoring (3.2) and have killed an NHL-best 91.2 percent of their penalties. The Jets enter with points in four of their last five games (2-1-2) after edging Dallas 2-1 in a shootout on Saturday.
Matt Duchene has recorded seven goals in his last seven games, scoring twice in the 4-2 victory over Carolina on Friday to give him eight on the season. Semyon Varlamov, boasting a .948 save percentage in seven outings, is expected to be in net for Colorado. Winnipeg's Evander Kane registered his team-leading sixth goal against Dallas while captain Andrew Ladd has notched four assists in the last three contests.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TSN (Winnipeg), Altitude (Colorado)
ABOUT THE JETS (5-5-2): Ondrej Pavelec has played each of the last six games, and the back-to-back contests could hand a start to Al Montoya, who had a shutout in his only appearance on Oct. 13 against New Jersey. Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien registered his team-best eighth assist against Dallas and fellow blue liner Tobias Enstrom has six. The Jets are 0-for-20 on the power play over the last seven contests and rank 26th in the league at 11.4 percent.
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (9-1-0): Colorado has matched its best 10-game start in franchise history and plays five of the next six games at home after finishing 15th in the Western Conference last season. “It’s special, going from where we’ve gone last year,” Duchene told reporters. “It feels great to be 9-1, the best team in the league. But you can’t be satisfied. We know how fast that can turn.” Rookie center Nathan MacKinnon has hit a cold spell after a strong start, going without a point in four straight games.
OVERTIME
1. Colorado veteran D Cory Sarich has registered a goal and an assist to go along with a team-best plus-8 rating.
2. Winnipeg was only 23-41 on faceoffs against Dallas and ranks among the worst in the league at 44.5 percent on the season.
3. Avalanche LW Cody McLeod will serve the fourth contest of the five-game suspension for his hit from behind on Detroit D Niklas Kronwall on Oct. 17.