As the Colorado Avalanche headed to Winnipeg for the second time in 12 days, it became more vital that they came out with a victory. The Dallas Stars fell earlier in the evening, so a victory would put a nine-point gap in the Central Division. The big problem was that Colorado had to do something they had not done since December 2023: win in Winnipeg. But the return of forward Artturi Lehkonen helped ensure the Avs would walk away with a 3–2 victory.

View from the Mountaintop

Turnovers killed the Avalanche throughout the entire game. Two bad turnovers at the blue line led to goals for Mark Scheifele. The first one was an exit attempt up the boards. The second one was an attempt by Artturi Lehkonen to exit, and stolen away.

There were a lot of positives to take away from the second game in 12 days in Winnipeg.

Jack Drury opened the scoring for the Avs in the first period with a gritty goal. It was his ninth goal of the year and a new career high for the forward. To add to that, Drury was 11-for-12 at the dot (91.7 percent), helping the Avs in key moments to maintain puck possession.

The Avalanche had a pair of goals scored by Nathan MacKinnon to put him at 48 for the season. The former Hart Trophy winner is three shy of his career high set in 2023–24. The goal was on the power play, helping the Avs get to 11-for-36 in the last 11 games. As he rushed the net.

Artturi Lehkonen made his return to the lineup for the Avs and tallied an assist on MacKinnon’s second goal. The Finn started on the second line, but eventually finished the game on the top line.

Up next

The Avalanche will head home to battle the Winnipeg Jets for the last time this season on Saturday at 5 p.m. MT. Altitude Sports will broadcast the game.