The Winnipeg Jets look to take down the Colorado Avalanche after being eliminated by them last postseason
The Winnipeg Jets have a thrilling matchup Thursday night when they face off against the league's top two scorers in Nathan MacKinnon and Cake Makar from the Colorado Avalanche. The dynamic duo have 25 and 23 points respectively this season.
The Jets will have this game circled on their calendar as the Avalanche eliminated them from the playoffs last season. These two teams have split their last 12 matchups and should make Thursday's game a battle once again.
Winnipeg will have the upper hand in terms of goaltending with Connor Hellebuyck taking on Colorado's Alexandar Georgiev, who has struggled severely to start the season. The 2024 All-Star has a 1-4-0 record with a 4.62 goals against average so far and has weak numbers in this matchup as well with two wins and a goals against average of 3.63 in six career starts versus the Jets.
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Hellebuyck has been a big reason for the Jets 12-1-0 start the season as he's recorded a 2.10 goals against average and a .923 save percentage, resulting in just one loss through his first ten starts.
The Jets underrated third line of Adam Lowry, Mason Appleton and Nino Niederreiter had an impactful performance in their 3-0 win over Utah on Tuesday with a pair of goals to create separation.
Last season, the trio was the Jets most impactful as they were top five in the league for minutes played by a line combination (682) and had the best defence of any line that had played together more than 225 minutes, allowing just 1.32 goals per 60 minutes. They've shown their ability to help Winnipeg get on the board with 13 goals combined this season.
They will look to make an impact again in what will be a very close matchup where the Jets will look to win their 13th game of the season.
Catch the thrilling showdown on Sportsnet at 7:00 PM MT, or catch the live broadcast on Power 97, the FM home of the Winnipeg Jets. If you are interested in attending, tickets are incredibly reasonable for this playoff rematch with the lowest pair being sold at roughly C$53.