Jets at Avalanche
While the Winnipeg Jets will have had no time to rest, the host Colorado Avalanche have had plenty of time to prepare for their Central Division showdown Friday. Winnipeg will be playing its fourth game in six days and second in as many nights after posting a 4-1 victory over visiting Dallas on Thursday in the back end of a home-and-home series.
Rookie Patrik Laine scored twice on the power play to grab a share of the league lead in goals with six and Kyle Connor netted his first career tally as the Jets doubled their goal total from back-to-back losses to Edmonton and the Stars. Colorado has been idle since concluding a 2-2-0 road trip with a 5-2 loss at Florida on Saturday. Matt Duchene notched a goal and an assist in the setback and shares the team lead of five points with Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Patrick Wiercioch. The Avalanche's stretch of inactivity quickly will become a memory as the team begins a run of 16 games in 34 days Friday.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, TSN3 (Winnipeg), Altitude (Colorado)
ABOUT THE JETS (3-4-0): Laine, who was the second overall pick in this year's draft, leads Winnipeg in both goals and points (eight). The 18-year-old Finn already has posted a pair of multi-goal performances as he registered his first career hat trick Oct. 19 against Toronto. Winnipeg took the lead 15 seconds into Thursday's contest and never relinquished it after playing while ahead for a total of 17 minutes, 2 seconds during its first six games of the season.
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (3-2-0): Mikko Rantanen is expected to make his season debut Friday after being recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League on Monday. The 19-year-old Finn, who was drafted 10th overall in 2015, suffered an ankle injury in September and missed all of training camp and the preseason before being assigned to the minors essentially for conditioning. Veteran John Mitchell (hip) also is likely to suit up for the first time this campaign while Rene Bourque (groin) should return to the lineup.
OVERTIME
1. Semyon Varlamov will be in net for the Avalanche on Friday while Calvin Pickard gets the call the following night against Arizona.
2. Winnipeg was 2-for-7 on the power play Thursday after going 3-for-24 over its first six games.
3. During its time off, Colorado lost RW Ben Smith, who was claimed off waivers by Toronto after failing to record a point in four contests.