Ehlers scored as Jets hand Avs 10th loss in last 12
WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- The Winnipeg Jets got two goals from Nikolaj Ehlers and a pair of two-on-one-rush goals to generate more than enough offense in a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche at the MTS Center on Sunday afternoon.
Rookie Patrik Laine scored his 18th of the season for the Jets, good for third in the league, on an odd-man break and captain Blake Wheeler converted the winning goal on the other as Winnipeg won its second consecutive game.
Ehlers added his sixth and seventh goals of the season, the latter with the Avalanche net empty. Laine had three points.
Connor Hellebuyck stopped 27 shots for the win, but Avalanche veteran Jarome Iginla spoiled his shut-out bid with a power-play goal with 2:01 to go in the game. It was his fourth of the season.
The win boosted the Jets record to 15-16-3 while the Avalanche fell to 11-18-1. The Avalanche lost 10 of their last 12 games.
The Jets had the best chance to open the scoring late in the first period, when defenseman Dustin Byfuglien found Bryan Little behind the Avalanche defense for a breakaway but the center's wrist shot went wide of the net.
Laine finally broke the goose egg at 7:06 of the second period when center Mark Scheifele feathered a saucer pass to him on a two-on-one. The one-timer blew past Calvin Pickard.
The Jets doubled their lead on another two-on-one when left winger Mathieu Perreault chipped a pass to Wheeler, who put his stick out just in time in front of Pickard's crease to deflect his ninth of the season into the net at 2:54 of the third period.
The Jets effectively put the game away just a couple of shifts later when, following some good work along the boards by Laine, Scheifele found Ehlers alone to the left of Pickard. His snapped home his sixth of the season high to the glove side at 4:03.
NOTES: Scratched for the Avalanche were G Semyon Varlamov, C Joe Colborne and D Cody Goloubef. ... Joining them from the Jets were D Mark Stuart and C Alexander Burmistrov. ... Colorado C Nate MacKinnon has arguably the highest profile among players from either team thanks to a series of Tim Hortons television commercials he has done with Pittsburgh superstar Sidney Crosby. ... Winnipeg C Bryan Little leads his team with a 56 percent rate in the face-off circle (98-for-175). ... Avalanche RW Jarome Iginla played in his 1,500 game in Montreal last week, becoming just the 16th player in NHL history to reach the milestone. ... Jets winger Shawn Matthias scored six goals in 20 games for the Avalanche last season.