National Hockey League
Colorado 4, Winnipeg 2
When: 8:00 PM ET, Thursday, April 13, 2023
Where: Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado
Referees: Gord Dwyer, Trevor Hanson
Linesmen: Jonny Murray, Bryan Pancich
Attendance: 18137

Mikko Rantanen set a Colorado record with his 55th goal, Artturi Lehkonen had a goal and an assist in his return to the lineup and the Avalanche beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 on Thursday in Denver.

Colorado (50-24-7, 107 points) remains a point behind Dallas (47-21-14, 108 points) in the Central Division but would claim the title with a win at Nashville in the regular-season finale on Friday. The Stars finished their regular season with a 1-0 win over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.

Evan Rodrigues also had a goal and an assist, Denis Malgin had a goal, Lars Eller added two assists and Alexandar Georgiev made 18 saves for the Avalanche, who are 15-2-1 in their past 18 games.

Axel Jonsson-Fjallby and Kevin Stenlund scored goals and David Rittich turned away 21 shots for the Jets.

Winnipeg (46-33-3, 95 points), which clinched the eighth seed in the Western Conference on Tuesday night, sat many of its top players with nothing at stake.

Malgin tipped in Eller's rebound at 13:33 of the first period to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead. It was his 13th of the season.

Winnipeg tied it up early in the second period when Jonsson-Fjallby slid a backhand by Georgiev at 2:15 for his sixth goal of the season.

Stenlund's short-handed goal at 14:59 of the second put the Jets in front 2-1. It was his sixth tally of the campaign.

Colorado answered on the same power play when Rantanen beat Rittich with a one-timer at 16:11. He passed Joe Sakic (54 in 2000-01) for the most goals by an Avalanche player in a season and is two behind Michel Goulet (1982-83 Quebec Nordiques) for the most in franchise history.

Rodrigues scored on a wrister at 3:01 of the third, his 16th of the season, to make it 3-2.

Lehkonen, who missed 15 games with a broken finger, scored into an empty net at 18:31 of the third to seal the win. It was his 21st of the season.

The Avalanche announced before the game that captain Gabriel Landeskog, who has missed the season due to a knee injury, would not play in the postseason.

Colorado forward Andrew Cogliano left the game with an upper-body injury in the first period.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Winnipeg   Colorado
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby 1 Points Artturi Lehkonen 2
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby 1 Goals Artturi Lehkonen 1
Morgan Barron 1 Assists Lars Eller 2
N/A Power Play Goals Mikko Rantanen 1
Kevin Stenlund 1 Short Handed Goals N/A
David Rittich .875 Save Percentage Alexandar Georgiev .900
David Rittich 21 Saves Alexandar Georgiev 18
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Winnipeg 20 2 0-3 2-3 6 29
Colorado 25 4 1-3 3-3 8 37
Upcoming Games
  • Colorado will play their next game on the road against Nashville. The Avalanche have a W/L % of .640 after a win and .581 after a loss.
  • Winnipeg will play their next game on the road against Vegas. The Jets have a W/L % of .553 after a win and .571 after a loss.