Brad Lambert Post-game The Winnipeg Jets are set to host the Colorado Avalanche in Game 1 of the opening round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs from Canada Life Centre on Sunday evening. In what very well may be the closest series between any two first round opponents, the Jets and Avalanche will square off from Winnipeg in the first test of the best-of-seven series. The Jets enter the postseason in a better state than last year, to which the club was without Nikolaj Ehlers, Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrissey for the better part of its opening round matchup against Vegas. This time, the Jets are down just fourth line winger Morgan Barron, who suffered a lower-body injury in Winnipeg's penultimate game vs. Seattle on Tuesday. He didn't dress on Thursday in the finale, while the majority of the Jets' stars also sat out the game for load management purposes. Winnipeg will look to begin things on a high note against a potent Avalanche offence entering the series fully-loaded with stars Nathan McKinnon, Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen champing at the bit to get back into the winner's circle. Connor Hellebuyck will look to cement his fantastic 2023-24 season with a lengthy postseason, which is all set to get underway on Sunday evening. Every game of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs can be viewed live on Sportsnet. Sunday's contest will be aired at 6:00 PM central time, before the two clubs return to the fold at 8:30 PM on Tuesday night. Winnipeg Jets expected line combinations for Game 1 on Sunday, April 21 vs. Colorado: Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi Ehlers-Monahan-Toffoli Niederrieter-Lowry-Appleton Gustafsson-Namestnikov-Iafallo Morrissey-DeMelo Dillon-Pionk Stanley-Samberg Hellebuyck Injured: Barron Healthy scratches: Perfetti, Kupari, Schmidt, Miller
