If you score three goals in an NHL game, chances are you’ll win a lot of those games.
For the fourth straight game to start the 2026-27 season, the Winnipeg Jets hit that magic mark with just a minute to go in a dramatic 3-2 win over the visiting Colorado Avalanche Wednesday night.
The Jets took a one-goal lead to the third period before the Avs tied it up. But Kyle Connor finished off a pretty pass from Mark Scheifele with exactly 60 seconds left for the Jets third straight victory.
“Not a lot of guys can make those kind of plays,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “Then also how K.C. got it off his stick too. But yeah, your best players need to step up in those type of moments. And those two have done that a lot for us.”
The Jets remain unbeaten in regulation this season with a 3-0-1 record as they handed Colorado their first loss.
“There’s definitely a lot of guys in here, and as a team, and myself, proving that we’re still a top team in this league,” Connor said. “And you got to prove it every single night. It’s a tough league. You can’t take nights off and so yeah, it’s a good start but looking forward to the next one.”
Connor scored twice for his fourth and fifth goals of the season for 328 markers as a Jet to move into a tie with Ilya Kovalchuk for the third most goals in franchise history behind only Dale Hawerchuk and Scheifele.
Cole Perfetti had the other marker for the Jets to score for the third straight game, giving him a four-game point streak with six points in the first four games.
Stuart Skinner was marvelous in goal for his first win at the Canada Life Centre and his second straight victory. He stopped 32 shots as the Jets were outshot 34-19.
“It was nice to get a lot of shots early,” said Skinner. “That’s normally a good feeling for a goalie. They definitely had their push, and it gave us a little bit of time, and we had our push, so, it was good.”
But the win came with a price as Josh Morrissey left the game with what appeared to be a hand injury. He was hurt after missing a hit along the boards at the tail end of the first period. He had just one shift in the second period and then left the game for good.
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“Just an upper-body (injury),” Arniel said. “We’ll check on it tomorrow and see how it is.”
In Morrissey’s absence, Dylan Samberg logged a game high 25:25 of ice time.
The game got off to a fairly even start with each side registering four shots on goal over the first seven minutes.
But over the final 13 minutes of the opening frame, Colorado outshot the Jets 13-2, thanks in part to a dangerous power play that came close to opening the scoring.
Skinner stood tall, stopping all five shots on that power play, including a stellar cross-crease save on Martin Necas.
Winnipeg got a power play look late in the period, generating one shot but they too were unable to break the deadlock.
Skinner further endeared himself to Jets fans early in the second when, after giving up a big rebound, he made a sprawling save to deny Necas again.
But it wasn’t too long after that save that Colorado opened the scoring. Fedor Svechkov had the puck along the boards with Samberg pressuring him. Svechkov then harmlessly sent the puck to the slot where it hit Viggo Bjorck and skittered into the high slot where Dylan DeMelo over skated it. That allowed Jaden Schwartz the time and space to rip a snapshot top shelf at the 2:51 mark.
Just over a minute later, the Jets answered back when Connor tipped a Neal Pionk point shot through Mackenzie Blackwood for his fourth of the season.
Colorado nearly regained the lead seconds later as Nathan MacKinnon got free on a two-on-one and ripped a shot off the post.
The Jets were having a tough time slowing down the Avalanche attack, and to make matters worse, Morrissey went into the boards awkwardly in the first and was seen shaking his hand without his glove on.
But Skinner continued to hold down the fort, allowing Winnipeg to take the lead in the waning minutes of the period.
Scheifele collected the puck behind Colorado’s net and carried it around to his right before sliding it back to the point to Samberg. He let a shot fly that glanced off the stick of Brock Nelson in front before banking off one of Perfetti’s shin pads and into the net for his third of the season.
With the secondary assist, Scheifele earned his first point of the season.
Winnipeg wound up outshooting the Avalanche 11-10 in the second, including 7-2 over the final 11 minutes.
The Jets continued to do a good job suppressing the Colorado attack as the third period rolled along, leading to Winnipeg’s second power play of the night with 11:41 to go, though they didn’t do anything with it.
Two goals didn’t feel like it would be enough to get the job done, and that became even more clear when Colorado tied the game with 7:25 remaining.
The initial shot from Brett Kulak at the left point missed the net and bounced off the end boards right to the stick of Schwartz, who passed it in front to Svechkov for a tap-in as the Jets defenders chased the play.
It looked like the game was destined for overtime but with a minute left, Winnipeg’s top line got the job done once more.
Scheifele carried the puck across the blue line and drove along the wall before sending a pass to the slot to Connor, who wired it past Blackwood for his second of the night. It was one of just two shots for the Jets in the third period.
Colorado didn’t have much time to get something set up with the goalie pulled and they failed to get a shot on goal before the final horn sounded.
Blackwood turned aside 16 shots in defeat.
Winnipeg will look to keep their season-opening point streak going Friday night at home against Anaheim.
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Source: globalnews.ca
