Jets 3 - 5 Avalanche
Final
  for this game

Jets-Avalanche Preview

Nov 28, 2015 - 1:41 AM The Colorado Avalanche knocked off the Winnipeg Jets earlier in the week, but that win looks more and more like an outlier in what has been a dismal stretch for Colorado.

Winnipeg will get another shot Saturday night when it visits Denver in a Central Division matchup.

The Avalanche (8-13-1) won 4-1 at Winnipeg on Monday, their only victory in a five-game span in which they've surrendered 22 goals. They returned home from a seven-game trip Wednesday but loss 5-3 to Ottawa, falling to an NHL-worst 2-6-1 at home.

"There's no moral victories. We need points," said Nathan MacKinnon, who has six goals and seven assists in his last 11 games after tallying one of each against the Senators. "This was a good opportunity to get them and we didn't show up."

Semyon Varlamov is expected to start in net despite struggling again. He was pulled in the second period in favor of Reto Berra after surrendering three goals on 15 shots, and coach Patrick Roy was particularly critical of the first one he allowed.

"When I saw the first one going in I said, `C'mon Varly. That can't happen,'" Roy said, hours after he issued a public vote of confidence for Varlamov following the team's morning skate despite his 3.22 goals-against average - the second-highest among qualifying goaltenders.

"That was not a dangerous shot at all. It was coming from the boards and it really hurt us a lot. It took some momentum off of our game."

Roy reiterated his support for Varlamov on Friday, however.

"He's our No. 1 goalie, and I'm behind him. I remember '93, it was a tough year (for me), and it would have been easy for coach (Jacques) Demers to put the other guy in," the third-year coach told the team's official website, referring to 1992-93 when he posted a 3.20 regular-season GAA before helping Montreal win the Stanley Cup. "He stood by my side, and in the end made a big impact. I said the same thing this morning with Varly, 'I'm with you for the good and the bad, and we'll find a way to get your game going.'"

Varlamov is just 4-3-2 with a 3.04 GAA in his last nine starts against Winnipeg, though he made 20 saves in Monday's victory.

Winnipeg (11-11-2) had also been giving up far too many goals, allowing 38 while dropping eight of 10 prior to Friday's 3-1 win at Minnesota.

Dustin Byfgulien recorded his seventh goal and assist of the season and Mathieu Perreault found the back of the net for the a second straight contest following a 16-game drought. Connor Hellebuyck only needed to stop 14 shots in his NHL debut to help the Jets snap a six-game road losing streak.

"A lot of things have been going wrong around here, and we needed some way to get back to our game plan," Byfuglien said. "New blood in the pipes never hurts, and the kid played great."

Michael Hutchinson figures to draw this start, however, and owns a 4.06 GAA in his last five games for the Jets.

Seven of the previous nine meetings before Monday's matchup went to overtime or a shootout.






Related News