Game Five Recap: Colorado completes Gentleman’s Sweep

The Avalanche finish off the Jets with excellent team defense and goals from all over the lineup.

The big question in this series was can Alexandar Georgiev keep up with presumed Vezina winner Connor Hellebuyck in the opposite net? Through one game, the answer was definitely not – but through four it was looking like a yes. Then, just a minute into Game Five a scrambly play found its way behind him and the Georgiev questions returned.

But they didn’t last long, as the team in front of the beleaguered Avalanche netminder stepped up to protect their net and tilt the ice the other way throughout the evening. Every time Winnipeg got something going, Colorado’s skaters up and down the lineup made plays to quiet the crowd and regain control despite the desperation evident in Winnipeg’s game.

Ultimately, despite giving up two goals he’d probably like to have back Georgiev played a fantastic Game Five and the Colorado Avalanche found goals up and down the lineup to seal the deal and end the Winnipeg Jets season with a 6-3 win. On to the next one!

First Period

Colorado got off to a somewhat shaky start, as just over a minute in a Kyle Connor shot from a bad angle was poked through Alexandar Georgiev and settled on the goal line. Josh Manson tried to pull it away and clear the length of the ice, but hit Artturi Lehkonen and the puck ricocheted directly into the net.

Not a hot start, but Colorado immediately picked itself up and got to work, tilting the ice back toward the Winnipeg net. On an end-to-end rush started by Nathan MacKinnon, Valeri Nichushkin finished a Devon Toews one-time feed with ease to even things up.

Connor Hellebuyck never stood a chance on that, and the Avs kept the pressure on him – owning the next ten minutes of the period with a dominant shot share and strong defense to support Georgiev and let him get in a groove with a couple of easy stops.

The next few shifts were spent mostly in the Avalanche defensive zone, but the team kept the Jets to the outside and only gave up one high-danger chance – a Cole Perfetti jam play that Georgiev turned aside with a strong push to the near post.

The Avalanche fourth line then won a draw and turned play back to the Winnipeg end with three minutes to play with Yakov Trenin nearly feeding Andrew Cogliano in the slot from behind the net, but was unable to sauce the puck over a stick in the passing lane.

All in all, the Avs gave up a fluke opening goal, quickly evened the score, and then dialed up the pressure as the period went on. Shots were 13-8, chances 14-4, high danger chances 4-2, and expected goals 1.32 to .44 – a very strong period for Colorado but still a 1-1 game.

Second Period

The Avs top line kept the pressure on Winnipeg, with Cale Makar nearly breaking the tie on a rush feed from Andrew Cogliano that pinged off the crossbar.

Neal Pionk then laid a brutal crosscheck on Ross Colton in front of the net and got sent off for two minutes, giving the Avs power play its first chance to make a mark on the game. Colorado’s top unit was able to get set up with ease but couldn’t find a clear lane and instead gave up a chance to Connor that Georgiev fumbled but a quick whistle killed any possible shorthanded shenanigans.

Winnipeg rode the momentum from their successful penalty kill to some extended zone time, which ended when Colin Miller ran over Zach Parise as he was falling – Parise had to be helped off to the bench before being pulled by concussion spotters. Not a malicious play, but certainly a scary moment. Parise did return later in the period.

That break in the pressure led directly to a brilliant play from Yakov Trenin – he spearheaded a breakout, nearly tipped a point shot past Hellebuyck, corralled that rebound and tried to stuff it, then corralled that rebound and took it out the slot and roofed a brilliant shot up over the Winnipeg netminder to give Colorado a 2-1 lead.

Moments later, Miles Wood got a little too hyped trying to dump and chase past Miller and pulled him to the ice with his offhand, giving the Jets powerplay a chance to even things up – which Morrissey did almost immediately.

The teams then spent the middle of the period trading brief stretches of zone time and low-danger chances, though Colorado had a golden opportunity off a beautiful feed from Makar at the point to Mikko Rantanen at the far post that somehow eluded the Moose’s stick – a stick Rantanen then snapped in frustration on his way to the bench.

With 6:15 to play the Avalanche then got a lucky bounce of their own as Mittelstadt broke into the zone, fired a pass back toward Lehkonen streaking into the zone at the blue line and fired a shot that ricocheted off Mark Scheifele’s stick, then Pionk’s, and past Hellebuyck to put Colorado back in the lead.

Winnipeg responded to their misfortune with a strong stretch of play, spending the vast majority of the next several shifts in the Avalanche end and generating multiple chances -but Georgiev was up to the task and the team in front of him didn’t allow any rebound tries.

Georgiev’s strong play continued shorthanded after Walker was called for hooking while backchecking to defend a 3-on-1 break. Off the first faceoff, he flashed the glove to snag a one-time drive that was labeled for the top corner, then the PK unit stepped up to keep everything outside and get to the break with their one-goal lead intact.

Winnipeg certainly pushed back in this period and won the underlying metrics battle, but it wasn’t enough as the Avalanche won the scoreboard battle 2-1. Shots were 12-19, chances 10-10, high danger chances 3-7, and expected goals .91-1.46. Other than Trenin’s one-man show and the lucky bounce that went Lehkonen’s way, the Avs barely weathered the Jet storm.

Third Period

After killing the last few seconds of the Walker penalty, MacKinnon nearly beat Hellebuyck over the glove near post but the big man shouldered it aside. Winnipeg then pushed back, and an accidental Kovalenko pick on Colton freed up Tyler Toffoli for a shot from the high slot that beat Georgiev clean to tie the game just two minutes in.

Not a good look for any of the Avs involved there, but 2:05 later the big guns looked great – they established the cycle, and MacKinnon worked the puck up to Makar at the point. Makar found an angle for a wrister, and Rantanen tipped it through Hellebuyck to regain the lead.

MacKinnon then nearly extended the lead with a quick redirect off a slot feed from Rantanen in the corner, but Hellebuyck got his glove up at the last possible second to keep it out. The next time the Avs top group hit the ice, it didn’t go nearly as well for the Jet netminder as MacKinnon darted in down the near wall and dished through Dylan Demleo’s stick to Rantanen alone in the slot for a perfect finish to extend the lead to two.

Unstoppable is right – and not just to describe that play. At the commercial break with under ten minutes to go, Colorado hadn’t given up a shot on net since Toffoli’s goal. Unfortunately, Cale Makar then took a shot to the chops from Gabe Vilardi – a brutal shoulder check away from the play that was called a major penalty on the ice so the refs could take a look at the replay and determine what happened since they didn’t see anything during the action.

They declined to call a penalty as it was determined to be two players simply trying to take up the same space, even though Vilardi clearly dropped his shoulder and initiated contact. Had there been a visible injury to Makar, that may have been something – but he was fine so the game continued at 5-on-5.

The Avalanche dialed up the defense for the rest of the period, toning down the forecheck in favor of a neutral zone structure designed to clog things up and prevent any odd-man rushes. The Jets were able to get some zone time, but barely looked dangerous until they pulled Hellebuyck for the extra attacker with three minutes to go.

With the net empty, the Jets worked the puck around the outside but couldn’t find a lane to the net. After a Mittelstadt icing and a Winnipeg timeout, Georgiev shrugged away a Connor one-timer from the point then gloved down another point try from Morrissey. Makar barely missed the empty net from the top of the circles in his own zone, Scheifele banged a point-blank chance off Georgiev’s outstretched leg, and Josh Manson buried a 180-foot try into the empty net to ice the game and the series.

Shots for the period ended up 7-7, chances 6-6, high danger chances 2-3, and expected goals .53-.7 – a break-even period defending a lead against a team with the back against the wall. Next up, the winner of Dallas-Vegas. Here’s hoping it takes seven games to find out whom.

Takeaways

Yakov Trenin rocks, and clearly has the trust of the coaching staff. His goal was all persistence and grit, but it’s not just that – with Parise in the locker room for a stretch in the second period, Trenin played every other shift with different linemates – a stint on Mittelstadt’s wing was all offense, then out there with Colton he trucked through all three zones, and back with his usual linemates he potted the goal to tie the game at 2. This wonderful stretch of play for the big forward got him more looks with the second and third lines in the third period, and a shift killing off the Jets’ last-minute bid with the empty net.

Mikko Rantanen looked snakebitten through two periods but stepped up big with two goals in the third to secure the victory. Getting him going was key to this game and should be huge for the rest of the playoff season.

Nikolai Kovalenko posted excellent metrics, including a team-leading 86% expected goals percentage, but still looked a bit lost in his second NHL game. It’s not unreasonable, but it is going to be good for him to get some practice time with the big club while they wait for Dallas or Vegas to prevail. Joel Kiviranta can also use that time to recover and may take his roster spot back, but either way, the time off is a big win for Colorado’s third line.

Upcoming

The Avs will face one of the Vegas Golden Knights or Dallas Stars, with that series going at least six games. Colorado would start the series sometime during the week of May 6, even if the series goes seven games.