Jets 5, Avalanche 4 (OT)
Blake Wheeler scored 1:42 into overtime and set up two other goals to lift host Winnipeg over Colorado.
Captain Andrew Ladd netted a pair of goals while Eric Tangradi and Evander Kane also tallied as the Jets won for only the second time in nine games (2-4-3). Al Montoya made 23 saves before Wheeler converted from a sharp angle to pull Winnipeg within four points of Phoenix for the second wild card in the Western Conference.
Ryan O'Reilly, captain Gabriel Landeskog, defenseman Nick Holden and Cody McLeod scored for the Avalanche, who dropped one point behind second-place Chicago in the Central Division. Reto Berra was shaky in his Avalanche debut, making 22 saves in his first start since March 3. It was the fifth one-goal decision between the teams this season, with the last four going beyond regulation.
With the teams tied at 2-2 after one period, the Jets went ahead 12 minutes into the second session as Devin Setoguchi redirected a puck into the slot that Kane scooped past Berra. Colorado tied it in the final minute of the period, when Holden accepted defenseman Tyson Barrie's cross-ice feed and sent the puck off a sliding defender and into the net.
Winnipeg reclaimed the lead when Ladd beat Berra to the stick side during a power play just before the five-minute mark of the third, but McLeod halted a 48-game goal-scoring drought with 9:37 remaining - his first point in 22 contests. O'Reilly scored 20 seconds into the game and Landeskog tallied with 2:13 left in the period - sandwiching goals by Ladd and Tangradi, who tallied for the first time since Nov. 8.
GAME NOTEBOOK: O'Reilly's goal continued his tear since returning from the Olympic break, giving him 15 points in 11 games, while C Matt Duchene collected an assist for his 19th point in 13 contests ... Ladd reached 20 goals for the third time in the last four seasons. He finished with 18 a year ago in the lockout-shortened campaign. ... Jets' Zach Bogosian sat out with an upper-body injury, clearing a spot for fellow D Paul Postma, who matched D Tobias Enstrom with a pair of assists.