By Canadian Press

Avs beat Jets 4-2, remain in control of Central Division

Apr 13, 2023 | 9:13 PM

DENVER (AP) — Evan Rodrigues scored the go-ahead goal on a wrist shot early in the third period to help the Colorado Avalanche remain in control for the Central Division crown with a 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night.

The Avalanche have 107 points and need to beat Nashville on Friday to secure the division’s top spot over Dallas. The Stars wrapped up their regular season with 108 points after a win over St. Louis.

Denis Malgin and Mikko Rantanen also scored for the defending Stanley Cup champions, with Artturi Lehkonen adding a late empty-net score. It was Rantanen’s 55th goal of the season, which is the most by an Avalanche player since the team moved to town before the 1995-96 season. The all-time mark in Colorado/Quebec history is 57 goals by Michel Goulet in 1982-83.

Alexandar Georgiev had a solid night with 18 saves against a Jets team that rested several of their players with their wild-card playoff spot secured.

Axel Jonsson-Fjallby and Kevin Stenlund scored for Winnipeg.

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David Rittich stopped 21 shots, but was caught off guard by Rodrigues’ shot from near the blue line with 16:59 remainining.

Rittich came up big later in the final period when he stopped Lars Eller on a penalty shot. Eller was awarded the shot after being taken down by Vladislav Namestnikov on a breakaway.

The victory was No. 50 for the Avalanche. They’ve now reached the 50-win plateau in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history.

Before the game, captain Gabriel Landeskog announced his surgically repaired right knee wasn’t ready for another playoff run. He will be watching his teammates from the sideline. Landeskog’s been out all season after undergoing surgery in October.

Another possible blow occurred in the first period when Andrew Cogliano caught an edge, slid and banged his left side into the boards. He was ruled out with an upper-body injury.

The Avalanche did have back Artturi Lehkonen, who missed 15 games with a broken finger. He had a goal and assisted on Rodrigues’ score.

Already locked into their playoff spot, the Jets chose to rest several players, including Blake Wheeler, Nikolaj Ehlers, Josh Morrissey, Mark Scheifele, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Nate Schmidt.

GAME NO. 83

Eller appeared in his 83rd game of the season Thursday — 60 with Washington and 23 with Colorado after he was acquired in a deal on March 1. An NHL season is 82 games.

“I noticed that (possibility) when I first came here. I saw they had a lot of games left,” Eller said.

GAME NO. 82

The Jets had four players suit up for 82 games this season: Kyle Connor, Brenden Dillon, Adam Lowry and Neal Pionk.

Scheifele could’ve been on the list, but rested in the regular season finale.

UP NEXT

Jets: Waiting to see who they face in the first-round of the playoffs.

Avalanche: Close out the season Friday at Nashville. The game was originally scheduled for November but was postponed when the water main broke at Bridgestone Arena.

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Pat Graham, The Associated Press