Alexandar Georgiev, Avalanche snowed under by Jets' flurry of goals in Game 1 loss

Lowry made it 5-3 on Winnipeg’s first shot of the third period at 3:31. The puck hit the left post, the right post and then barely rotated its way across the line on the way back. It was ruled no goal during play, but a quick review overturned it.

The Jets got a break on a suspect penalty call, and scored again at 5:51. Kyle Connor scored the first of his two third-period goals on a one-timer from the right circle.

The Avs got off to an extremely fast start, dictating play for most of the opening eight minutes. Colorado had 11 of the first 12 shots on goal, and Valeri Nichushkin solved Vezina Trophy favorite Connor Hellebuyck with No. 11.

The Jets tried to get the puck out of danger and go for a line change, but Josh Manson flipped the ice on them with a quick-up pass to Nichushkin and he blistered a wrist shot past Hellebuyck at 6:10.

Josh Morrissey evened the score at 8:02 on a shot from near the blue line through traffic. It came at the end of Winnipeg’s first real bit of sustained pressure in the offensive zone.

Manson made the first big mistake for the Avs a few minutes later, and Winnipeg quickly took the lead. Alex Iafallo deflected his outlet pass from the corner to the right of Georgiev. It trickled into the slot, right to Vladislav Namestnikov and he buried a shot into the top-right corner at 11:57.

Colorado struck back with goals on back-to-back shifts. Miles Wood scored on the doorstep after Ross Colton created a turnover behind the Winnipeg net. Eighteen seconds later, Nathan MacKinnon collected a pass from Mikko Ranatnen and fooled Hellebuyck with a shot from inside the left circle.

If the Avs had any designs of settling in to playing with a lead, the Jets erased them less than 50 seconds later. Kyle Connor checked Casey Mittelstadt behind the Avalanche net, and then Gabe Villardi slipped a pass through the crease to Mark Scheifele near the right post for a layup at 15:53.

At that point, the Avs had a goal from three different lines, had proven Hellebuyck was mortal and controlled play for much of the period. But the other dressing room had to feel a lot better about a 3-3 score after 20 minutes.

Canada Life Centre was certainly ready for the start of the playoffs. Winnipeg’s famous Whiteout did not disappoint, both inside the arena and the thousands who watched from the party outside. The Avs’ fast start quieted them for a while, but the hectic opening 20 minutes whipped the crowd into a frenzy.

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