On the second night of a back-to-back set on the road, the Colorado Avalanche lost to the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 in a lackluster performance. Dustin Byfuglien led the way with three points (one goal, two assists) in the winning effort.
By failing to convert on three power play chances, the Avalanche (22-21-11) extended their drought to 28 straight power plays without a goal.
The loss drops Colorado to 1-4-2 in the second half of back-to-back sets this season.
With the win, the Jets (27-18-10) broke a streak of six straight losses.
Chris Thornberg became the Jets all-time leader in penalty minutes by fighting Cody McLeod in the first period. The two enforcers dropped the gloves again for round two in the third period.
Tyson Barrie returned to the Colorado’s lineup and paid immediate dividends with a first period goal after he missed two games with a hip flexor injury. Stefan Elliot was forced to the press box to make along the blue line.
Barrie’s goal came with a 6-on-5 advantage – where the Avs have been extraordinarily potent of late – as the Jets had a delayed penalty. It was Colorado’s first goal after being held scoreless for 136 minutes straight and being shutout in both of the previous two games with Barrie out of the lineup.
“Tyson brings a lot of offense to our team and he scored a really nice goal.” Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy said.
After a strong first period by the Avalanche, Winnipeg took control of the momentum after killing off a penalty to start the second stanza. Mathieu Perreault erased the Avs’ lead by banging home a rebound before Byfuglien gave the Jets a 2-1 lead with a power play goal at 5:42 of the period.
Ben Chiarot and Bryan little added goals to make it a 4-0 second period for the Jets. Little’s power play goal was his fifth tally against the Avalanche this season.
Matt Duchene and Alex Tanguay scored in the closing period, but it wasn’t enough to complete the comeback on this evening. Tanguay’s goal was Colorado’s second 6-on-5 tally of the game and sixth of the season.
Jan Hejda registered two blocked shots and a hit while playing in his 600th career game – 259 of which have come in an Avalanche sweater.
“We had too many turnovers and giveaways and they scored on their power play. They made good plays on the power play,” coach Roy said. ”But I like the way we played offensively.”
The Avalanche have three days off before they start a four-game homestand by hosting the New York Rangers on Thursday.
Nathan is a staff writer for Mile High Sports. He can be reached on Twitter at @TheRealNatron.