Avalanche strike quickly in OT to burry Jets
DENVER -- Nathan MacKinnon scored a power-play goal 59 seconds into overtime and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Wednesday night.
MacKinnon also had an assist, Alexander Kerfoot produced a goal and an assist, and Nikita Zadorov scored for the Avalanche.
The Avalanche appeared to win 29 seconds into overtime, but MacKinnon's goal was overturned when the Jets successfully challenged Tyson Barrie was offside when MacKinnon brought the puck into the zone.
Just 30 seconds later, MacKinnon scored on a shot from the slot for his eighth goal of the season,
Goaltender Semyon Varlamov had 31 saves in his return to the lineup after missing four games because of illness.
Bryan Little and Josh Morrissey scored and Connor Hellebuyck had 23 saves for the Jets.
The Avalanche (12-9-2) were playing the first game without captain Gabriel Landeskog, who is serving a four-game suspension for his cross-check to Calgary's Matthew Tkachuk in Saturday's loss to the Flames.
Little gave the Jets a 2-1 lead when he outworked defenseman Anton Lindholm in front of the net and knocked the puck by a sprawling Varlamov at 4:08 of the third.
Colorado tied it on Zadorov's shot from the top of the slot at 11:57.
Winnipeg (15-6-4) went ahead 1-0 after controlling the play in Colorado's end for a long stretch and cashed in on Morrisey's third goal of the season at 8:43 of the first.
The Avalanche tied it on their first power play when Kerfoot knocked in a rebound just as Hellebuyck shook off his mask and helmet after a strap came loose nearly five minutes later.
Hellebuyck pleaded his case to the official in vain. The rule states if the goaltender's mask or helmet comes off, play should come to a stop only if there is no immediate and impending scoring opportunity.
NOTES: Winnipeg is 11-1-3 when scoring first and Colorado is 4-6-1 when opponents get the first goal. ... Jets C Mark Scheifele has 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in his past 16 games. He was ninth in the NHL in scoring, and he has 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) in 18 games against Colorado. ... Colorado D Anton Lindholm celebrated his 23rd birthday by returning to the lineup. Lindholm had been out since suffering a broken jaw on Nov. 4 in Philadelphia.