DENVER — The fully intact Winnipeg Jets have been reeling for months. So naturally, a fraction of the Jets caused the Avalanche severe strife with a division title on the line.
Evan Rodrigues potted the game-winning goal with 16:59 remaining, and the Avs escaped a tight contest with the Jets to stay alive in the Central Division race with a 4-2 win Thursday at Ball Arena.
Dallas topped St. Louis in the Stars’ final regular-season game, cementing them at 108 points and setting up a dramatic finale for Colorado on Friday (6 p.m.) in Nashville. With the win, the Avalanche will clinch the division title and face the Kings or Kraken in the first round. With a loss — regulation or otherwise — they’ll meet the Minnesota Wild.
Mikko Rantanen scored his 55th goal, passing Joe Sakic’s single-season scoring record since the team moved to Denver in 1995, and Alexandar Georgiev made 18 saves.
With the final playoff spot in the West narrowly clinched, Winnipeg rested most of its best players in Denver, seemingly assuring an Avalanche advantage. Among the Jets’ scratches: Josh Morrissey, Mark Scheifele, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Blake Wheeler and star goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
But a cast of relative unknowns put on an impressive display of grit against an Avalanche squad at full power — or close to. Depth winger Andrew Cogliano went crashing into the boards in the first period and didn’t return to the game with an upper-body injury.
The Winnipeg scorers were Axel Jonsson-Fjallby and Kevin Stenlund, who had combined for 23 career goals before Thursday.
Stenlund’s was on the wrong end of an Avalanche power play. Rantanen attempted to low-to-high pass but telegraphed it, and the puck never reached Devon Toews at the point. The Jets turned the giveaway into a 2-on-1 and a 2-1 lead late in the second period. Time remained on the power play, though.
Rantanen sought redemption by stationing himself at the right faceoff circle. He blistered a one-timer off target, re-cocked himself into shooting position and waited for the next pass. Rodrigues threaded a nice assist from the opposite boards, and Rantanen smoked the record-setting goal past Winnipeg backup David Rittich.
Artturi Lehkonen scored an empty-netter in the last minute, announcing his arrival after missing the last 15 games with a broken finger.
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