Avalanche get embarrassed by Jets in biggest game of the season

The Colorado Avalanche will meet the Winnipeg Jets in the playoffs next weekend and because of Saturday’s stinker—the Central Division foes will probably start in Canada.

The two entered Saturday as the most likely matchup for each other and tied on 104 points, both with three games left. It meant the winner would likely snag the second seed and home ice and the loser would be traveling to the team who just handed them a big loss.

The Avs suffered one of their worst and most painful losses in quite some time. The Jets crushed the Avalanche 7-0, taking Colorado out of the game before the first period ended. And barring some shenanigans in the season’s final two games, Colorado won’t have home-ice advantage because of the beat down.

The Jets scored four times before the Avalanche got four shots on goal. Sean Monahan and Gabriel Vilardi scored several minutes into the first period with Josh Morrissey and Adam Lowry scoring 10 seconds apart late in the first. That’s when Jared Bednar pulled starter Alexandar Georgiev for young backup Justus Annunen. But that wasn’t a solution. Halfway through the second period things got worse again, as the Jets notched three more goals in a six-minute stretch, as Tyler Toffoli got on the board and Monahan and Lowry each added a second score. Despite some calling for a goalie change, neither were up to the task on Saturday, yet nobody else was—getting shut out by Vezina favorite Connor Hellebuyck.

The Avalanche actually lost 7-0 to the Vegas Golden Knights in November. And seven-goal defeats are a bit more common in Colorado history than you would think. But losing by eight? The Avs have only suffered routs that big twice—December 10, 2016 (10-1 at Montreal,) and February 14, 2011 (9-1 hosting Calgary.) Of course, none of these games had quite the same stakes as Saturday’s game, which everyone knew for some time now that it could be the most meaningful game of the regular season. Making this loss to the Jets one of the worst perhaps in the team’s history since moving to the Mile High City.

The results around the league locked in the Jets at the Avs playoff matchup. The only good news is that despite the series likely being hosted by the Jets, oddsmakers actually like the Avalanche to win the series—making them favorites at -152. Maybe Saturday’s effort was more of a singular snoozer than an indictment of the team at large. But what the books may have not checked is that the Jets won all three games this season and outscored the Avalanche 17-4, oh, and the fact that Colorado has only tallied five out of a possible 18 points over their last nine games.

The first matchup of the #StanleyCup Playoffs is locked in! 🔒

The @NHLJets will be facing off against the @Avalanche in the First Round.

Presented by @FanDuel pic.twitter.com/E5GOrrfVLw

— NHL (@NHL) April 13, 2024