Avalanche at Jets
Blake Wheeler called out his team for its lackluster play and has backed up his words with a pair of critical goals that has the Winnipeg Jets feeling good entering Monday’s home contest against the Colorado Avalanche. Wheeler followed Thursday’s overtime winner against Nashville with the lone goal in Friday’s road victory at Minnesota, pulling the cellar-dwelling Jets within two points of Colorado in the Central Division.
“It’s so much more fun coming to the rink when you win,” Winnipeg center Mathieu Perreault admitted to reporters after Sunday’s practice. “The work ethic, the way we did it (Friday) was definitely a great feeling.” The Avalanche are clinging to sixth place in the Central after Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Columbus in which they allowed a deflected goal with 1:07 left in the third period, resulting in their third loss in four games. “You’re going to win some that you don’t deserve to win, and sometimes you lose some you deserve to win,” Colorado coach Patrick Roy told reporters. “Tonight is an example.” The Avalanche have surrendered as many goals as they have recorded (129), ranking fifth in the league in scoring and last in goals allowed entering Sunday.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Altitude (Colorado), TSN3 (Winnipeg)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (22-21-3): Semyon Varlamov will get the start Monday after Calvin Pickard played the previous two games, allowing just the two goals Saturday following a shutout win over New Jersey. Matt Duchene continues his strong bounce-back season, leading the Avalanche in goals (22) after scoring only 21 last season. Colorado has registered three or more goals five times in the last seven games but is scoreless on its last nine power-play opportunities.
ABOUT THE JETS (21-21-3): Winnipeg opens a season-high six-game homestand at less than full strength as Drew Stafford and Adam Lowry joined Mark Scheifele on injured reserve Sunday with upper-body injuries. Rookie Connor Hellebuyck has cemented his status as the Jets’ top netminder, going 11-6-1 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .931 saves percentage. All-Star defenseman Dustin Byfuglien played Friday, one night after leaving a contest with a lower-body injury, and Winnipeg recalled forwards Patrice Cormier and JC Lipon from Manitoba of the American Hockey League on Sunday.
OVERTIME
1. Colorado defeated the Jets twice in less than a week in late November, winning 4-1 at Winnipeg on the 23rd and 5-3 at home five days later.
2. The Jets continue to struggle on special teams, ranking in the bottom five in both penalty-killing (77.4 percent) and the power play (15.7 percent).
3. Varlamov has surrendered 14 goals in his last four games, going 2-2-0 in that span.