Rapid Recap: Jets 7, Avalanche 4

Kyle Connor scored three times and the Colorado Avalanche fell 7-4 to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday at Pepsi Center.
The Avs held a 43-26 edge in shots on goal and scored twice on the power play in the loss. Nathan MacKinnon tallied two of the Colorado goals, increasing his career total to 179, eighth in franchise history and fifth in Colorado history.
Nazem Kadri scored and added an assist, while defensemen Erik Johnson and Samuel Girard each had two helpers in the loss.
Blake Wheeler (two goals, one assist), Mark Scheifele (one goal, two assists), Nikolaj Ehlers (one goal, two assists) and Jack Roslovic (three assists) all had three-point games for the Jets, and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 39 of the 43 shots he faced.

The Avalanche and Jets will meet next in Winnipeg on March 27.
Statistics
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Photo Gallery
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Highlights
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Notes & Quotes
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Watch: Coach Bednar Postgame

THE GOALS

1st Period
6:25 WPG (0-1) - Nikolaj Ehlers found Blake Wheeler open in the right circle, and Wheeler scored in his 900th career NHL game.
9:43 COL (1-1) - Nathan MacKinnon tallied on a wrist shot from the blue line while Gabriel Landeskog was provided a screen in front of the net
2nd Period
8:27 WPG (1-2) - Kyle Connor put the puck on net and tapped the rebound over Philipp Grubauer's shoulder.
13:47 COL (2-2) - PPG, Nathan MacKinnon scored his second of the night on a one-time shot from the left circle.
14:53 WPG (2-3) - Mark Scheifele scored from the slot while both teams had four skaters on the ice.
3rd Period
7:15 COL (3-3) - PPG, Gabriel Landeskog tied the game after the puck bounced to him off of the end boards.
10:45 WPG (3-4) - PPG, Kyle Connor tipped a Neal Pionk shot while on the power play.
16:31 WPG (3-5) - Kyle Connor scored his third of the game to extend Winnipeg's lead.
17:39 WPG (3-6) - ENG, Blake Wheeler scored his second of the night into an empty net.
19:16 COL (4-6) - Nazem Kadri skated through two defenders and deked past Connor Hellebuyck before scoring into an open net.
19:48 WPG (4-7) - ENG, Nikolaj Ehlers scored Winnipeg's second empty-net tally of the game.
Final: Jets - 7 | Avalanche - 4

3 STARS

Selected by Colorado Hockey Coach of the Game: Kyle Hull (Littleton)

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 2 for 4
Winnipeg: 1 for 1

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer stopped 19 of the 24 shots he faced
Winnipeg: Connor Hellebuyck made 39 of 43 saves

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Nathan MacKinnon's two goals increased his career total to 179 and moved him past Matt Duchene for eighth in franchise history (fifth in Colorado history). His second tally came with the man advantage, giving him sole possession of seventh place in franchise history with 52 power-play goals in his career.
MacKinnon now has 460 career points (179 goals, 281 assists), ranked ninth in franchise history and fifth in Avalanche history.

NOTEBOOK

Samuel Girard recorded two assists to register his second multi-point game of the season... Erik Johnson also had two assists for his second multi-point game of the year... Colorado finished 2-for-4 on the power play, the second time in four games it has scored multiple goals with the man advantage (also: Dec. 23 at Vegas, 2-for-5)... The Avs are 7-5-2 in December and finished with their third straight "winning" month after going 8-2-2 in October and 8-6-0 in November. The last time the Avalanche started a season with three straight months above .500 was in 2010-11... Colorado is now 4-3-2 when hosting a game on New Year's Eve. It was the seventh consecutive season and the ninth time since moving to Denver the team played in the Mile High City on Dec. 31. Overall, it was the 17th time that the Avalanche has played on New Year's Eve, with the club going 8-6-3... The contest was the second of four games between the Avs and the Jets this year. Colorado is now 1-1-0 against Winnipeg this season and the loss snapped a six-game home winning streak at home versus the Jets.

QUOTABLE

Erik Johnson on the Avs' scoring chances: "What was it, like two or three posts? So, chances were definitely there. It's just going the wrong way for us right now and no one is happy about it, but you know, there's ebbs and flows throughout the season and we're not trying to peak in January, we're trying to peak when it matters. So I mean, we want to get out of this funk as soon as we can, but there's peaks and valleys to every year and every team goes through it and we're going through it right now and sometimes that's how it happens, but hopefully we're better for it the long run."

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

Looking ahead to 2020.

ROSTER REPORT

Philipp Grubauer was between the pipes… Mark Barberio and Vladislav Kamenev were the healthy scratches.

INJURY UPDATE

Colin Wilson (lower body) remains out after having surgery.

UP NEXT

Colorado concludes its stretch of divisional games when it hosts the St. Louis Blues at Pepsi Center on Thursday.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 72 Joonas Donskoi
95 Andre Burakovsky - 91 Nazem Kadri - 96 Mikko Rantanen
13 Valeri Nichushkin - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 11 Matt Calvert
83 Matt Nieto - 17 Tyson Jost - 37 J.T. Compher
Defensemen
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
16 Nikita Zadorov - 28 Ian Cole
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
39 Pavel Francouz