The Colorado Avalanche have been soaring to incredible heights all season.
Today, the highest-flying team in the NHL will fly into Canadian airspace at Canada Life Center against Connor Hellebuyck and the Winnipeg Jets to finish off their two game road swing.
Colorado Avalanche (44-11-9)
The Opponent: Winnipeg Jets (26-28-10)
Time: 2:00 P.M. MDT/4:00 P.M. EDT
Watch: ALT, ALT+ (Avalanche Local Broadcast Area), TSN3 (Winnipeg Local Broadcast Area), ESPN+, NHL Center Ice (Outside Regional Broadcast Areas – US), SN+, NHL Centre Ice (Canadian
Broadcast Areas)
Listen: Altitude Sports Radio KKSE-FM 92.5 FM
Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche come into today’s game fresh off a 5-1 victory over the reeling Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday night. The Avs would regain the services of Nathan MacKinnon, who returned to the lineup after being served a major penalty (courtesy of on-ice officials Kelly Sutherland and Brandon Schrader) and a corresponding game misconduct (which was rescinded by the NHL on Thursday) upon colliding with Edmonton Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram (courtesy of Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse) in the 4-3 loss on Tuesday night. If MacKinnon was harboring any resentment after the events of Tuesday night, he channeled all of it towards Seattle’s Joey Daccord and Philipp Grubauer, resulting in a four point effort (1G/3A/4PTS), which included the game-winning tally, in the win. Martin Nečas scored his 30th goal of the season for the first time in his career, and Nazem Kadri scored his first regular season goal in a Colorado sweater since April 29, 2022, en route to the victory. Scott Wedgewood stopped 28 of 29 shots for his 25th win of the season, extending his career high.
With this victory, the Avalanche maintained a five point lead over the Dallas Stars—who defeated Edmonton by a score of 7-2 Thursday evening—and still hold a critical game in hand over their second place rivals. They remain the undisputed leader across the Central Division, Western Conference, and League standings. Coach Jared Bednar said after Thursday’s game, “Every win matters this time of the year. We’re trying to hang on to first place. Teams around us are winning, and to get a start like that [tonight], and have those guys feel good about their game is real important this time of year.”
Today’s game marks the first of two visits to Winnipeg in a two week span for the Avs. Both teams previously met on December 19 back at Ball Arena, a 3-2 Avalanche victory. Parker Kelly scored what proved to be the game winner in that contest. Look for Mackenzie Blackwood to get the start in Winnipeg today, as he looks to rebound from a performance on Tuesday night where he gave his teammates plenty of time to take control of the contest, but ultimately was unable to provide key saves when his defenders weren’t at their best.
Coach Bednar deployed eleven skaters at the forward positions on Thursday, along with seven defensemen. This saw the debut of Nick Blankenburg, acquired from Nashville just before the trade deadline, in an Avalanche sweater. Blankenburg, fared decently in his first outing with his new team, but as the seventh defenseman, had a team low 9:31 among the blue line corps. At the time of this writing, the Avalanche haven’t called anyone up from Loveland (which would be a curious decision given that there can be only five call-ups to use between now and the end of the regular season), and Ross Colton’s status is still unknown, so it’s possible that Bednar considers using this same lineup against Winnipeg and allow Blankenburg another opportunity to showcase his abilities.
Even with his four point performance on Thursday, Nathan MacKinnon trails Edmonton’s Connor McDavid in the overall points lead (MacKinnon has 108 points; McDavid leads the League with 111). His 44 goals on the season still lead all NHL skaters. Nečas is now tied for second in team goal scoring with Brock Nelson (30). Cale Makar remains one goal away from a fourth consecutive 20 goal season.
Projected Lineup
Forwards:
Nazem Kadri – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Nečas
Joel Kiviranta – Brock Nelson – Valeri Nichushkin
Parker Kelly – Nicolas Roy – Gavin Brindley
Zakhar Bardakov – Jack Drury
Defense:
Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Josh Manson – Brent Burns
Brett Kulak – Sam Malinski
Nick Blankenburg
Between the Pipes:
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
Winnipeg Jets
After capturing the Presidents Trophy as the League’s best team in the regular season with 56 wins last year, an encore performance seemed all but certain. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was awarded his second straight Vezina Trophy as the League’s best goaltender, and secured the Hart Trophy for the first time. However, their dominant run saw an early exit in the second round of the postseason at the hands of the Dallas Stars. GM Kevin Cheveldayoff got to work through the next several months, locking up several key figures to long-term, lucrative contracts: defenseman Neal Pionk (six years, $42 million dollars), center Gabe Vilardi (six years, $45 million dollars), left wing Kyle Connor (eight years, $96 million dollars) and captain Adam Lowry (five years, $25 million dollars). Cheveldayoff also signed former Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, who hadn’t seen NHL action since the end of the 2022-2023 season, to a one-year contract. Management made their commitment to the roster, and the future was looking bright.
Winnipeg didn’t have as dominant of a start to the 2025 – 2026 season began, as they went 12-8 in the first twenty games. However, Hellebuyck underwent knee surgery on November 22nd, causing him to miss three weeks of action. The Jets lost eight of their next ten games without Hellebuyck, and eleven of twelve games after his return on December 13. With Colorado, Dallas, and Minnesota all but untouchable at the top of the Central Division standings, and Utah making a strong case for wild card consideration, Winnipeg was fighting an uphill battle, as they fought to prevent sinking to the Central Division basement. Currently, a stretch of .500 hockey coming out of the Olympic break sees Winnipeg seven points out of the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. However, just one point separates them from cellar-dwelling Chicago.
With their hopes for playoff contention fading, Winnipeg traded defensemen Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for right wing Isak Rosén, defenseman Jacob Bryson, a conditional 2026 4th round pick, and a 2027 2nd-round pick prior to the trade deadline. They would later trade left wing Tanner Pearson to Buffalo for a 2026 7th round pick on trade deadline day. It would take a lot to close the gap on the teams ahead of them in the wild card race, but a successful weekend at home could help turn the tide in their favor.
Winnipeg is currently in the midst of an eight game homestand, and today’s game against Colorado serves as the first half of a back to back set of weekend games, with the St. Louis Blues paying a visit to Canada Life Center on Sunday afternoon. Winnipeg has lost its previous two games, a 4-1 defeat at the hands (wings?) of the Anaheim Ducks, and a 6-3 loss courtesy of the New York Rangers. Hellebuyck started the previous seven of Winnipeg’s eight games since the return from winning Olympic gold with the United States (and teammate Kyle Connor) in Italy, and is likely to start again today. While Hellebuyck has been a formidable opponent against Colorado, he will face them with a depleted blue line, as both Pionk and Colin Miller remain out of the lineup due to injury. Other notable absences include former Avalanche center Vladislav Namestnikov and right wing Nino Niedereitter.
Center Mark Scheifele currently leads all Winnipeg skaters in goals (30), assists (49), and points (79). Connor is second in all three categories (29G/43A/72PTS). Defenseman Josh Morrissey, who earned a silver medal with Team Canada in Italy, leads all Winnipeg defensemen in all three categories (11G/33A/44PTS).
Projected Lineup
Forwards:
Kyle Connor – Mark Scheifele – Alex Iafallo
Cole Perfetti – Adam Lowry – Gabe Vilardi
Gustav Nyquist – Jonathan Toews – Isak Rosén
Cole Koepke – Morgan Barron – Brad Lambert
Defense:
Josh Morrissey – Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg – Elias Salomonsson
Haydn Fleury – Jacob Bryson
Between the Pipes:
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
