The Colorado Avalanche are in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to face the Jets on Thursday night. They remain at the top of the Central Division, and even with a loss, that will remain to be true. They have played one less game than the second-place Dallas Stars and are seven points ahead of their rival.
That doesn’t give them a pass, however. Though they are firmly in a tremendous spot, losing sight of their goals would be a huge mistake. It is mathematically still possible for the Stars to catch up, though very unlikely given how well the Avs have played to this point in the season.
As of before Thursday’s game, the Avalanche are slated to play the Nashville Predators, the Western Conference’s second wildcard team as of right now. The other teams in the Western Conference currently in the playoff picture are the Stars, Wild, Ducks, Mammoth, Oilers, and Golden Knights. The Mammoth are the other wildcard team in the conference.
The NHL’s playoff format has been a hot topic lately. A lot of people hate the fact that teams in the wildcard spots have to go up against the top two seeds in the standings. It creates a scenario in which a strong team good enough to make the playoffs has a pretty decent shot at being eliminated in the first round of the postseason, because, generally, the top teams in the conference are going to be heavily favoured, and for good reason.
The Avalanche aren’t the top team in the league because they slacked through the year. They have dominated for a good portion of the year, with a couple of rough streaks here and there. Despite one of the league’s worst power play units for most of the year, they’ve managed to find themselves in a spot every team would kill to have.
The Colorado Avalanche need to solve Connor Hellebuyck early
While the Jets are struggling this season, Connor Hellebuyck is still a top goaltender. In their last meeting, 12 days ago, Colorado fell 3-1. They are just 1-of-4 in their last four meetings. Getting off to a quick lead will be very crucial for the Avalanche, because Hellebuyck isn’t going to go down easy. Despite a save percentage of .898, he has a goals-against average (GAA) of 2.81.
This tells me that the Avalanche need to take advantage of their opportunities in front of the net. It seems pretty straight-forward, but Colorado has had some mistakes by over-passing at times. If they simplify their game, and make smart passes and decisions, they should be able to solve Hellebuyck.
According to NHL Edge, Hellebuyck struggles with shots in-close and to the left of him, though he has seen the least amount of opportunities regarding the latter (just 18).
Getting through to Hellebuyck and avoiding silly and costly mistakes will go a long way against this Jets team. If they are successful in doing that, the Avalanche aren’t going to leave Winnipeg with another win to their record and a bigger lead in the division. The Avs will need to rely on guys such as Martin Necas, Nathan MacKinnon, and whoever they play in net—either Mackenzie Blackwood or Scott Wedgewood (I’d bet Wedgewood in this division matchup).