WINNIPEG 鈥� Adam Lowry demonstrated why he was the right choice to be the Winnipeg Jets captain on Sunday night.
Lowry and Kyle Connor each scored twice to propel the Jets to a 7-6 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 1 of their first-round, best-of-seven playoff series.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been a great leader for the team on and off the ice. He was a great choice for captain,鈥� Jets head coach Rick Bowness said.
鈥淗e loves these challenges. He鈥檚 going up against one of the best players in the world, not necessarily the league, but the world in Nate (Nathan MacKinnon). So, he loves those challenges and he takes his game to another level.鈥�
MacKinnon, who had a goal and one assist, was second in league scoring with 140 points during the regular season.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 our captain, man. He鈥檚 a gamer,鈥� Jets defenceman Brenden Dillon said of Lowry. 鈥淭he physicality, he plays against the top guys every night. Sometimes when it seems like our group doesn鈥檛 have it, he鈥檚 able to pull us into the fight.鈥�
A sold-out crowd of 15,225 white-clad fans had plenty to cheer about at the 鈥渨hiteout鈥� parties inside and outside Canada Life Centre.
Mark Scheifele had a goal and two assists and Josh Morrissey registered a goal and assist. Vladislav Namestnikov also scored. Dillon, Gabriel Vilardi and Nino Niederreiter each added a pair of assists and Connor picked up one helper.
There were 100 hits in the game, with the Avalanche having a 54-46 edge.
Lowry said there will be some tweaks for Tuesday鈥檚 Game 2 with linemates Niederreiter and Mason Appleton.
鈥淲e want to spend a little more time in their zone, wear them down in the cycle,鈥� Lowry said.
Connor Hellebuyck made 40 saves for the Jets, who are on a nine-game win streak.
Cale Makar had a goal and two assists for Colorado. Artturi Lehkonen notched a goal and one assist. Valeri Nichushkin, Miles Wood and Casey Mittelstadt also scored. Mikko Rantanen chipped in with two helpers.
鈥淯nfortunately, all the mistakes that we made ended up in the back of our net,鈥� Makar said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 just the way she goes sometimes. A couple things to clean up and then turn the page.鈥�
Alexander Georgiev stopped 16 of the 23 shots he faced for Colorado, which is trying to repeat its 2022 Stanley Cup-championship run. He was backed up by Arvid Holm instead of Justus Annunen, who wasn鈥檛 at the morning skate.
It was the first time the two teams have met in the NHL playoffs.
The Avalanche came into the series having lost all three regular-season games against Winnipeg.
鈥淲e played extremely hard,鈥� Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said. 鈥淲e did a lot of good things. You don鈥檛 get six (goals) on the Jets without doing that.
鈥淲e also made some mistakes that they capitalized on. Too many, obviously tonight, and it ends up costing us the hockey game.鈥�
Bednar said he wasn鈥檛 going to speculate on if he鈥檇 make a change in net for Game 2.
鈥淚t probably needed to be better, right?鈥� he said of Georgiev鈥檚 performance.
Winnipeg finished three points ahead of Colorado in the Central Division, and the parity showed quickly.
The first period ended in a 3-3 tie, including the teams combining to score three goals in 66 seconds.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not the way we drew it up, a 7-6 game, but sometimes you鈥檝e just got to play that game that鈥檚 in front of you,鈥� Connor said. 鈥淚t turned into a bit of a track meet there and we know we鈥檝e got to be better.鈥�
With a 10-1 lead in shots on goal, Nichushkin fired the puck high over Hellebuyck鈥檚 blocker at 6:10 to give the visitors the 1-0 lead.
Morrissey tied it just under two minutes later when his point shot went through traffic past Georgiev.
The teams then combined for four goals in just under four minutes, including three in just over a minute.
Namestnikov got the offensive fireworks started at 11:57 when his go-ahead goal had the crowd roaring.
Wood tied it at 14:47, MacKinnon scored at 15:05 for the 3-2 lead and then Scheifele evened it up at 15:53.
Wood鈥檚 goal marked the 1,000th playoff goal for the Avalanche-Quebec Nordiques franchise.
Lowry got the only goal of the second period to go ahead 4-3 at 8:57.
His second goal of the game had to be reviewed as the puck hit one post, went across and hit the other post and then slid along the goal line and hit the post again before bouncing out. It counted as crossing the line at 3:31.
Connor and Lehkonen exchanged power-play goals to make it 6-4 at 6:29, but Connor added his second marker just over two minutes later. Makar then scored an unassisted goal on the man advantage for the 7-5 score at 12:24. Mittelstadt finished it off with a goal with 30 seconds remaining.
IN GOOD COMPANY
Mark Scheifele鈥檚 first-period goal was his 20th career playoff goal, scored in his 38th game.
Only three active players have reached that mark in fewer games. Alex Ovechkin did it in 26 games, Jake Guentzel in 32 and Connor McDavid in 36 games.
UP NEXT
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Winnipeg.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2024.
Judy Owen, The Canadian Press
