Instant reaction from the Avalanche’s 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 4 of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series.

Goin’ crazy for Casey: The hole left behind by Nazem Kadri has officially been filled, and his name is Casey Mittelstadt. Acquired from the Buffalo Sabres just before the trade deadline in March, the second-line center has been nothing short of spectacular working alongside Zach Parise and Artturi Lehkonen in these playoffs. Case in point: His work along the end boards to set up Lehkonen’s first-period goal. The backhanded pass alone — perfectly slid along the ice through a pair of defenders — would’ve been good enough. But the stick work just to get that puck to the other side of the net before that? Chef’s kiss. A lack of depth scoring ultimately undid last year’s Stanley Cup defense. With Mittelstadt & Co. rolling, it appears that’s no longer an issue.

Work of Art-turi: Speaking of postseason performers (and trade deadline wins), should the Avs just tell Artturi Lehkonen it’s a playoff game every time he takes the ice? Few Avs up their level of play in the postseason better than the 2022 deadline acquisition. The Finnish winger now has 27 points in 31 postseason games with Colorado after notching one goal and one assist in Sunday’s win. While Casey Mittelstadt and Zach Parise were responsible for the lion’s share of the dirty work to set up his one-timer in the first period, it was Lehkonen who got greasy in the second period. Setting up shop in front of the crease, as is so often his wont, Lehkonen served up Valeri Nichushkin’s second of three goals on a platter, collecting a loose puck in front of the crease and flicking it over to Val for an easy score.

A series flipped in seven days: What a difference a week makes. Just seven days ago, Avs fans and prognosticators alike were burning goaltender Alexandar Georgiev in effigy after he gave up seven goals in a 7-6 Game 1 defeat — Colorado’s fourth straight loss against Winnipeg this season. Three games later? It’s safe to say this series has flipped. Completely. Now it’s the great Connor Hellebuyck who’s getting lit up like a pinball machine (to be fair, the Avs toasted him in Game 1, too), and pulled after Cale Makar made him look silly with a wrister over his right shoulder. Whatever mastery the Jets had over the Avs is gone. The shots on goal tally through four games is now 153-103 in Colorado’s favor. The series is 3-1, Avs. And the only mystery left is whether Colorado closes this out in Manitoba or back at Ball Arena.

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The Colorado Avalanche are set to compete in Game Four of the first round in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where they will play their second game on home ice against the Winnipeg Jets. Colorado/Quebec owns an all-time record of 16-9 (.640) when leading in a series 2-1. Game Four’s puck drop between the Avalanche and Jets is scheduled for 12:30 PM MT and will be broadcast locally on Altitude TV and nationally on TNT.

ROUND ONE SCHEDULE AND RESULTS VS. WPG

• April 21 at Winnipeg – Game One; Result: WPG: 7 COL: 6
• April 23 at Winnipeg – Game Two; Result: COL: 5 WPG: 2
• April 26 vs. Winnipeg – Game Three; Result: COL: 6 WPG: 2
• April 28 vs. Winnipeg – Game Four, 12:30 PM MT / 1:30 PM CT (ALT, TNT, TruTV, Max)
• April 30 at Winnipeg – Game Five, 7:30 PM MT / 8:30 PM CT (ESPN, ALT)
• May 2 vs. Winnipeg – Game Six, TBD
  May 4 at Winnipeg – Game Seven*, TBD

*If necessary

REGULAR SEASON RESULTS VS. WPG

• December 7 vs. Winnipeg (L, 4-2)
• December 16 at Winnipeg (L, 6-2)
• April 13 vs. Winnipeg (L, 7-0)

AVALANCHE ALERT

Nathan MacKinnon netted his second goal of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. This tally elevates his career playoff power-play goal total to 14, matching Michel Goulet and Milan Hejduk for third-most in franchise history.

Cale Makar logged an assist and has consistently appeared on the scoresheet across all three postseason games, amassing six points (1g/5a) to lead the Avalanche. He is currently tied for fourth in playoff points across the NHL and first among defensemen.

Casey Mittelstadt tallied his first three career playoff assists, including primary assists on two of Colorado’s goals. Friday’s game marked his first multi-point outing in an Avalanche uniform.

Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen have each established three-game goal streaks since the beginning of the playoffs, becoming the fifth and sixth players in Avalanche/Nordiques history to achieve that feat. Entering Game Four, they trail only Goulet (five games in 1985) and MacKinnon (four games in 2022) for the longest such streak in franchise playoff history.

DOUBLE OR NOTHING

Colorado currently leads the series 2-1 against Winnipeg. In Games 2 and 3, the Avalanche have notched 11 goals, nearly tripling the Jets’ tally of four.

The Avalanche have four players who have accumulated five or more points this series, compared to only one for Winnipeg.

With a total of 17 goals, Colorado is tied for the most in the league this postseason (Edmonton), a figure that doubles the goal count of eight other NHL playoff teams.

The Avalanche’s power play is running at 36.4%, more than double the Jets’ 14.3%.

THE COMEBACK KIDS: GAME 3 RECAP

On Friday evening at Ball Arena, Colorado triumphed over Winnipeg with a 6-2 victory. Zach Parise initiated the scoring in the opening period, marking his second tally of the series. However, the Jets briefly seized the lead with goals from Tyler Toffoli and Josh Morrissey. Entering the third period with a 2-1 deficit, the Avalanche responded with MacKinnon, Nichushkin, Lehkonen, Ross Colton, and Devon Toews all finding the back of the net, lifting the Avalanche over the Jets 6-2. Colorado’s five-goal surge in the final period set a franchise record for the most goals scored in a third period during a playoff game. This victory marks another comeback win for the Avalanche, who recorded 26 comeback victories in the regular season, second only to the New York Rangers’ 28.

DECIMAL DOMINANCE

.926

Alexandar Georgiev has recorded a .926 save percentage over his last two games, stopping 50 of 54 shots faced.

36.4

Colorado’s power play efficiency stands at 36.4% through the first three games of the playoffs, ranking fourth among the 16 playoff teams.

5.67

The Avalanche have netted 17 goals in three games, tying them for the highest total in the NHL this postseason. This results in an average of 5.67 goals per game.

QUOTE THAT LEFT A MARK

“It’s unreal. All series long, everybody’s been really good and we need that. When we’ve won, we’ve had everyone going, everyone contributing, not just scoring. Guys are eating pucks and playing really good two-way hockey.”

– MacKinnon on the Avalanche’s Depth

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Sergeant Patrick Rice with the Colorado State Patrol says although the state has made serious progress when it comes to detecting and enforcing driving under the influence of marijuana they still have a long way to go.

“We still have a long way to go as you can see on our roads we still have many many impaired drivers killing people drivers in Colorado nearly every day,” Rice said.

Just last year there were 235 crashes caused by impaired driving in El Paso County. Tied with 2022 but the highest number the county has seen in the last ten years. Rice says over the years he has learned key differences to spot drivers who are driving while high.

“Many of the dangers of the same it’s a slow, cognitive decision making abilities. It’s your abilities to see down the road and acknowledge a threat and respond,” Rice said.

Rice says one danger high drivers pose on the roads is that they often think they are operating normally, not recognizing the impairment before getting behind the wheel.

“Impairment is impairment, whether it’s on marijuana or alcohol or anything else,” Rice said.

If you are suspected of driving impaired under the influence of anything other than alcohol authorities will ask you to take a blood test.

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