The Avs on home ice remain as close to invincible as a sports team can get.

Colorado beat Winnipeg 3-2 on Friday at Ball Arena, improving to 14-0-2 in Denver. The win extended the longest home point streak to start a season in franchise history, and the Avs’ 12th straight victory at home is the longest in the NHL this season and second-longest streak in franchise history.

“When other teams play here, it’s tough to come into this building,” defenseman Josh Manson said. “When the fans get behind us, momentum shifts. We score a goal, they get loud, the building gets rocking and the momentum starts to carry and we can feel it. And from there, we can start pouring it on.”

The Avs didn’t play perfect on Friday, giving up a shorthanded goal and battling through several Winnipeg surges after reigning Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck settled into the game.

But as they have all season, Colorado found a way to win in front of the Avs faithful in a game featuring four scuffles, highlighted by a fist fight between Manson and the Jets’ Tanner Pearson. The Avs’ only home losses this year came in a pair of 5-4 shootout setbacks, to Dallas on Oct. 11 and Carolina on Oct. 23.

Since then, Colorado’s been a sure bet to prevail at “The Can.”

“This was one of our better defensive efforts of the year — physical, and we spent some time in the D-zone in the second period and didn’t give up any dangerous chances five-on-five really,” Avs head coach Jared Bednar said. “Made a mistake on the power play, made a mistake on the penalty kill, but besides that I liked our game tonight.”

The Avs started fast against struggling Winnipeg, which has battled injuries and inconsistencies while looking like a shadow of the team that won last season’s Presidents’ Trophy. Colorado blitzed Hellebuyck with a number of quality shots in the first 10 minutes, then finally broke through with Brent Burns’ goal.

“Right from the drop of the puck, we were taking it to them,” Manson said. “… (During this stretch of home dominance) we’ve set the pace on teams.”

Burns, the oldest active NHL player, wristed one home from behind the right playoff circle as his shot deflected off the skate of a Winnipeg defender to make it 1-0.

Five minutes later, Colorado made it 2-0 thanks to a highlight-reel combination between Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas. MacKinnon, tied with Edmonton’s Connor McDavid for the NHL points lead entering the night with 58, made a precise pass that split two defenders and found Necas streaking down the center of the ice. Necas beat Hellebuyck on the bottom right shelf.

“When we beat them up ice, we’re capable (of finishes like that),” Necas said.

But in the second period, Hellebuyck tightened up, turning away several scoring chances as the Jets killed three Avs power plays and the crowd buzzed off of Manson’s fight with Pearson.

After both players went to the penalty box just under three minutes into the period, the jumbotron cam jumped from Manson to Pearson, with the former getting met with deafening cheers and the latter with a chorus of boos.

“(That) gets you fired up a little bit,” Parker Kelly said.

But on Colorado’s third man-advantage of the period, the Jets stole the momentum back with a short-handed goal.

Off a Hellebuyck save, Alex Iafallo possessed the puck and cleared up ice high off the glass. Morgan Barron outskated Cale Makar down the ice to retrieve the bouncer, then beat Scott Wedgewood one-on-one with a backhanded shot to quiet the crowd and make it 2-1 with 37 seconds left in the frame.

“We weren’t worried after that,” Manson said. “If anything, I was thinking in my mind, ‘We’re going to go get one here at the start of the third period.’”

The Avs did just that.

BOULDER, Colo. (KKTV) – Several Colorado highways are closed due to high winds reaching up to 80 MPH in some locations.

According to the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), the closures currently in place include:

• CO 93 both directions from 64th Ave (Arvada) to CO 170.
• CO 72, both directions from CO 7 to Ward Road.
• US 36, both directions from Boulder to Lyons.
• CO 128, both directions from CO 93 to McCaslin Boulevard.

Transportation officials said the winds may also cause traffic signal outages.

If traffic lights are experiencing a power outage, CDOT said drivers must treat it as a four-way stop:

• Come to a complete stop at the stop line or before entering the intersection. 
• Vehicles proceed one at a time, in the order they arrived. 
• If two vehicles arrive at the same time, the driver on the right goes first. 
• Always yield to pedestrians and cyclists already in the crosswalk. 
• Make eye contact when possible and proceed cautiously – do not assume others will stop.

Drivers are also encouraged to reduce speeds, keep both hands firmly on the steering wheel, and be alert for debris, downed signs and sudden gusts. High-profile vehicles, such as trucks, vans and vehicles towing trailers, are encouraged to avoid travel when closures or restrictions are in place.

CDOT also reminds commercial drivers to ensure tire chains are properly secured and not dragging, which can create sparks and increase wildfire risk during dry, windy conditions.

Copyright 2025 KKTV. All rights reserved.