Everything was tied as the series switched to Denver, leaving the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche to see who would take advantage of Friday night's contest. With the Avs controlling the momentum, the True North franchise was looking to flip the scenario. Let's see what happened…
Winnipeg started the game very well, outshooting and skating Colorado in the opening minutes of the game. The best early scoring chance was Georgiev denying Appleton from the side of the net when the forward was too tight to heave the puck over his pads. Eventually, the local Avalanche regained momentum, and the game tilted in their favor toward the middle. The pressure paid off for Colorado, as Manson tested Hellebuyck from a high position and Parise converted the rebound to take the lead. After enduring some more pushing from the Abs, Winnipeg had a flurry of chances late in the period, especially some nice turnovers from the Jets' top unit. According to MoneyPuck, the game was statistically close in the opening frame.
1st Period MoneyPuck Statistics: Score: 1 to 0 Avs Shots, Avs Shots 10-9, Avs Winning 52.9%, Expected Goals – All Situations (1.15-0.96 COL), and 5-on-5 (1.15-0.96 COL)
The middle period was interesting. Despite being down 16-10 in the frame, Winnipeg played pretty well and created a number of scoring opportunities. But the Jets needed a bit of luck to tie the game. Toffoli picked up the puck along the Avs' goal line and slipped it between Georgiev and the post for Winnipeg's first goal of the postseason.See the largest blue dot about an inch below the net in Colorado in the MoneyPuck graphic.). A short time later, in a seemingly unusual event in this series, the Avalanche were called for a penalty (hook the scheifele). The Jets' PP didn't look all that dangerous, but as the advantage neared its end, Winnipeg managed to secure some bodies up front for Morrissey's point shot. After the midway point of the frame, the Jets led 2-1, and both teams traded chances but were unsuccessful for the remainder of the period. Note that MoneyPuck scored the expected goal ahead of Winnipeg two games later, even though the Jets were on the back foot.
MoneyPuck stats after 2 periods: Score: 2 to 1 Jets, 19-for-28 shooting, abs, 62.5% Expected goals for Jets win – all situations (3.05-2.62 WPG) and 5-on-5 (2.57-1.69 WPG)
The third period took a turn for the worse for Winnipeg Jets fans, as Appleton was called on the road to send Colorado on the power play. This man advantage paid dividends the moment MacKinnon's point shot found its way through a maze of bodies in front of Hellebuyck. After 23 seconds, Vilardi failed a stick lift and went to the sin bin for 4 minutes to get blood drawn on a high stick. The Jets managed to kill the first two minutes, but Avalanche PP took the lead on Nichushkin's goal. Things got even worse from there when Scheifele's turnover at the opposing blue line led to Colorado's extra point. Winnipeg was unable to gain any momentum as officials were constantly sending them into the box, and the Avs added another point when the PP expired. All that was left was for Colorado to add an empty-netter, a period in which he outscored the Jets 12-5. In the end, Money Pack's stats weren't terrible, and Winnipeg was even able to control his expected goals at five-on-five.
MoneyPuck stats after 3 periods: 53.3% Average Win Worth Expected Goals – All Situations (4.50-3.65 COL) and 5-on-5 (3.16-2.01 WPG)
Final score: colorado avalanche 6 winnipeg jets 2
shot: colorado avalanche 40 winnipeg jets twenty four
Game observations:
- Two very good periods were wasted with a terrible third period, and now the Winnipeg Jets find themselves chasing the series with less confidence. You're not going to win many games if you spend almost the entire third period shorthanded.
- The good thing is that the second line of Nikolai Ehlers, sean monaghan& tyler toffoli There was a rebounding game that they needed (72% of xG).
- In fact, the only members of Winnipeg's forward unit to lose in the expected 5-on-5 scoring contest were: Adam Lowry, Nino Niederreiter& mason appleton Trio, and they barely came close (49.4%xG).of Kyle Connor, mark scheifele& Gabriel Bilardi The unit was very good at generating attacks (62%xG), the fourth line of Vladislav Namestnikov, David Gustafson& Alex Iafallo We played our part (57.2%xG).
- it was a better outing conor hellebike for most of the game, but a third-period outburst killed his stats (.872%/-1.28 goals saved above average).
- there's something wrong josh morrissey Because his skating is far from the elite level he is capable of. His lack of foot speed affects Winnipeg on both ends of the ice, impeding his exit from the clean zone on Colorado's dump-ins and limiting his ability to participate in the offense without risking getting caught on the ice. .
- Statistically, holding the high-powered Colorado Avalanche offense to 2.01 expected goals at 5-on-5 was exactly what the Winnipeg Jets needed to have a chance at winning. They also fixed the other side of the puck, performing well with a 3.16 expected goals against and even offensive output. Unfortunately, a sluggish start to the third period shattered the Jets' fragile spirit, and they were back in scramble mode from then on.
- I admit I turned off the game before the end game melee started, but I don't know what was involved other than the skate cut. brenden dillon supported by his hand.you need to check if it means Logan Stanley or colin miller He'll be in Game 4…or maybe. Ville Heinola?
Now, this morning the belief that the Winnipeg Jets will win this series has disappeared from my mind, but losing just one more game with a logical possibility of four more is insurmountable. It's not that there aren't any. Our franchise showed some signs of being the team we could be if we played right in the postseason, but it just wasn't enough. It will take some serious determination for the True North players to turn things around, but it all starts with their next game on Sunday afternoon.
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