The Colorado Avalanche return home to Ball Arena to open a three-game homestand with a rematch against the Winnipeg Jets, aiming to tighten their grip on the top seed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Colorado enters tonight’s contest following a 3–2 victory over Winnipeg on Thursday at Canada Life Centre. It was the first time the Avalanche had scored a win against the Jets on the road in a regular season game in 330 days. After falling behind early on a goal from Mark Scheifele, the Avalanche responded with three unanswered goals—two from Nathan MacKinnon—to secure their first regular-season win in Manitoba since February 24, 2023.

The game also marked the return of Artturi Lehkonen, who had missed 11 games due to injury. He played a key role in the game-winning goal, delivering a precise pass that MacKinnon redirected past Connor Hellebuyck early in the third period. Winnipeg challenged the play for goaltender interference, but the ruling on the ice stood. A late goal from Scheifele narrowed the margin, but Colorado held firm to complete a perfect road trip.

The win extended Colorado’s lead over the Dallas Stars to nine points in the Central Division, with a game in hand. With Dallas in action against Pittsburgh and the Minnesota Wild closing the gap, the pressure remains high as the regular season winds down.

Head coach Jared Bednar emphasized both the positives and areas for improvement following Thursday’s win:

“It was a good effort from our guys. We gave up a couple of goals on turnovers on the D-zone walls, so there’s a couple of things we want to improve on, but for the most part, I think, [at the] end of the road trip, we played hard; we were competitive. Special teams did a really nice job tonight, and from the goaltender out, I think we had everybody involved and were able to carve out a win against a really good team, a desperate hockey team.”

Despite their strong position, Bednar made it clear the team remains focused.

“We’re still fighting for first place,” he said, “so every win’s important until they put the mark beside our [name in the] standings, so we’ve had something to play for down the stretch run here. I think we’ve had a good year, but we’re not comfortable. We’re still just kind of fine-tuning our game before going into the playoffs […] but you’re playing hungry teams every night that are jockeying for position, trying to fight [their way] into the playoffs, trying to move up the standings, so there’s still lots to play for in the season, and lots of hockey, and we certainly don’t want [our] game deteriorating over the last month of the season before we get into the playoffs, so that’s our main focus.”

Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves in Thursday’s win, earning his third straight victory. If he starts again, he could tie his career high with 22 wins in a season. However, Bednar may opt to continue rotating with Scott Wedgewood, who has also found success against Winnipeg this year.

Bednar spoke highly of his goaltending tandem:

“[Blackwood] came out of the [Olympic] break playing really good, then he had a dip in a handful of his starts, and he’s gone to work, and I feel like his last handful of games here, he’s given us a great chance to win. He’s coming up with big saves when we need him, he’s been exceptional on the penalty kill, which always helps, so [I’m] pretty happy with the way both of those guys are playing in net right now.”

MacKinnon continues to lead the NHL in goals with 48, while sitting just four points behind Connor McDavid and Nikita Kucherov for the league scoring lead. Martin Nečas (34 goals) and Brock Nelson (32) provide strong secondary scoring, while Cale Makar sits one point shy of 500 career points. Nicolas Roy’s status remains uncertain after missing time since March 22.

Tonight marks the beginning of Colorado’s final extended homestand of the regular season.

Gabriel Landeskog – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Nečas

Ross Colton – Brock Nelson – Valeri Nichushkin

Artturi Lehkonen – Nazem Kadri – Logan O’Connor

Parker Kelly – Jack Drury – Joel Kiviranta

Brett Kulak – Cale Makar

Devon Toews – Sam Malinski

Josh Manson – Brent Burns

Scott Wedgewood

Mackenzie Blackwood

Winnipeg’s playoff hopes remain uncertain as they sit five points outside the final Western Conference wild card position with ten games remaining. Despite earlier wins over Colorado and St. Louis, the Jets have dropped four of their last six, including Thursday’s loss to the Avalanche.

Their remaining schedule includes critical matchups against fellow wild card contenders such as Seattle, San Jose, St. Louis, and Utah—games that will likely determine their postseason fate. While a win against Colorado would be valuable, consistency against direct competitors will be essential.

Scheifele continues to lead the Jets in all major offensive categories (34 goals, 54 assists, 88 points), followed closely by Kyle Connor (32 goals, 82 points). Josh Morrissey remains the top-producing defenseman with 49 points. Neal Pionk has returned from injury, while Vladislav Namestnikov remains out.

With the stakes high, Connor Hellebuyck is expected to make his third consecutive start—his 50th of the season—as Winnipeg begins its final extended road trip. By its conclusion, the Jets’ playoff outlook may be firmly decided.

Kyle Connor – Mark Scheifele – Alex Iafallo

Cole Perfetti – Adam Lowry – Gabe Vilardi

Isak Rosén – Morgan Barron – Brad Lambert

Cole Koepke – Jonathan Toews – Gustav Nyquist

Josh Morrissey – Neal Pionk

Dylan Samberg – Elias Salomonsson

Haydn Fleury – Dylan DeMelo

Connor Hellebuyck

Eric Comrie