In the Western Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs the Colorado Avalanche will play the Winnipeg Jets.
Higher in the Central Division home-ice advantage for the best-of-7 series will go to the team that finishes. Second are the Jets (50-24-6), one point ahead of the Avalanche (49-25-7).
The playoffs begin April 20.
This season Winnipeg won all three games against Colorado, including 7-0 on Saturday.
Defenseman Josh Morrissey led the Jets against the Avalanche with seven points (two goals, five assists), and forward Nikolaj Ehlers had five points (one goal, four assists). Three goals by Gabriel Vilardi and Adam Lowry each, and two had by Kyle Connor and Sean Monahan each. Connor Hellebuyck was 3-0-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage.
Avalanche with four points (one goal, three assists) forward Nathan MacKinnon led the, and with more than one point in the season series was the only skater. In a 4-2 loss on Dec. 7, Alexandar Georgiev allowed three goals on 27 shots, and four goals on 15 shots before being pulled in the 7-0 loss; backup Justus Annunen allowed the 7-0 loss three goals on 12 shots in relief of in his only appearance against the Jets. On 24 shots Ivan Prosvetov allowed five goals, on Dec. 16 in a 6-2 loss.
In the playoffs, the teams have never played each other.
In the first round last season in five games the Jets lost to the Vegas Golden Knights; in the first round in seven games, the Avalanche lost to the Seattle Kraken.
This season, the Jets are led by forward Mark Scheifele with 70 points (25 goals, 45 assists), Morrissey with 67 points (10 goals, 57 assists), and (32 goals, 27 assists) Connor and with 59 points each Ehlers (24 goals, 35 assists). With a 2.38 GAA Hellebuyck is 36-19-4, five shutouts in 59 starts, and a .922 save percentage. Backup Laurent Brossoit is 14-5-2 with a 2.00 GAA, a .928 save percentage, and three shutouts in 22 games (21 starts).
MacKinnon is led by the Avalanche, in the NHL with who is second with 138 points (51 goals, 87 assists), with 103 points (41 goals, 62 assists) forward Mikko Rantanen and with Cale Makar (21 goals, 68 assists) 89 points defenseman. With a 3.02 GAA Georgiev is 38-18-5, in 63 games (62 starts) this season, a .897 save percentage, and two shutouts. With a 2.35 GAA Annunen is 7-4-1, two shutouts in 13 games (11 starts), and a .925 save percentage.
Colorado has won the Stanley Cup three times, the last coming in 2022. Winnipeg has never been to the Stanley Cup Final and never won the Cup.
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