The Colorado Avalanche should have been the fresher team, but it was the Winnipeg Jets who had some pep in their step on Friday night at Pepsi Center en route to a 1-0 road victory.
Colorado looked more rusty than rested after a six-day layoff between games. Winnipeg, playing in their third game in four days meanwhile, controlled pace of play early and held on to the lead from a second-period goal by former Avalanche center Shawn Matthias.
Michael Hutchinson notched 37 saves for the shutout win. Semyon Varlamov stopped 20 of 21 for Colorado.
The Avalanche offense finally started to come around in the third period, where they outshot Winnipeg 20-4, but Hutchinson was simply too good on the night.
“Their goalie stole one for them,” forward Nathan MacKinnon said postgame.
All that rest is over for Colorado, who plays Saturday night in Arizona. They’ll try and steal one of their own in the desert.