Avs knock off Jets in Winnipeg's preseason finale 5-2

Before the Winnipeg Jets departed for Denver to face the Colorado Avalanche, veteran forward Vladislav Namestnikov spoke with the media about a frustrating season a year ago and how he wanted to put it behind him.

Namestnikov said he is putting last season behind him, refusing to make excuses for what went wrong, and feels refreshed and healthy after a strong summer heading into the new season.

Namestnikov had a goal and an assist as did his linemate Nino Niederreiter in a 5-2 loss to the Avs on Friday night. Winnipeg had a 2-1 second period lead before Colorado scored four unanswered goals as the Jets finished with a 1-2-1 record in the preseason. 

Stuart Skinner finished the night with 28 saves, the Jets will begin the regular season next Friday at home.

"That chemistry that has to build with the lines, the D partners and each player being responsible for making sure their conditioning is good to go," said Scott Arniel when asked about what he took away from the preseason.

"Their attention to details in each and every practice and games and then you throw in the compete and the execution, those are the last pieces really that get you out of the summer hockey mode."

Winnipeg opened the scoring on the power play at 6:15. Neal Pionk’s point shot was stopped by Mackenzie Blackwood, but Nino Niederreiter was there to shovel the rebound past the Avalanche goaltender.

After the Jets came close to extending their lead on their third power play, Colorado tied it at 6:07. Winnipeg turned the puck over in its own end, and T.J. Hughes’ shot was redirected by Jaden Schwartz through the legs of Skinner.

The tie lasted just 90 seconds. Vlad Namestnikov and Niederreiter combined to put Winnipeg back in front, with Namestnikov finishing off his third good scoring chance of the period for his second point of the night.

"There's certain things you definitely liked tonight but at the same time like I said, its preseason you can’t take things too serious,” said Niederreiter.

“You know you have to work on your game; regular season is a whole different animal. So, we know we have to prepare ourselves for that.”

Colorado finished the second period strong scoring two goals 1:21 apart and both coming off the stick of Hughes, giving the Avalanche the lead after 40 minutes.

"We were sloppy in that second half of the second period, just kind of turning pucks over and pretty quick team Colorado, they transition well," said Arniel.

"There was some read things that we have to continue make sure that we look at. Our first 30 was certainly a lot better than the second half there but again, it’s about the rust, it's timing, its details.” 

With just over six minutes left in the game, Blackwood would make his biggest save of the night when Josh Morrissey came out of the penalty box on a clear breakaway, with the Avs goaltender lunging over with his left pad to keep the Colorado lead intact.

That save turned out to be huge, as Cale Makar gave the Avalanche a two-goal advantage finishing off a beautiful passing play beating Skinner under the glove with 4:35 left.

Hughes would finish off the scoring into an empty net for his third goal of the night.

The Jets will practice this weekend along with some team building events in Colorado Springs.