Central Plains FFA Chapter

03/28 21:01 CDT Perfetti's late goal lifts Jets over Avs, 4-2 Perfetti's late goal lifts Jets over Avs, 4-2 By MICHAEL KELLY Associated Press DENVER (AP) --- Cole Perfetti scored a tiebreaking goal late in the third period, and the Winnipeg Jets kept their postseason hopes alive with a 4-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night. Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves, Gabriel Vilardi had a goal and an assist, and Cole Koepke and Kyle O'Connor scored for Winnipeg. The Jets, with 74 points, are three behind Nashville for the second wild-card in the Western Conference. Winnipeg earned a split of the season series and won the second game of the home-and-home between the teams. Colorado won in Winnipeg, 3-2, on Thursday night. Brock Nelson and Parker Kelly scored for Colorado, which had its four-game winning streak snapped. The Avalanche loss, combined with Dallas' win at Pittsburgh, cut their Central Division lead over the Stars to seven points. Colorado, which leads the NHL with 106 points, has played one less game than Dallas. The Avalanche carried the play for much of the third but the Jets got the go-ahead goal at 14:49 when Perfetti redirected Jacob Bryon's shot from the point past a screened Mackenzie Blackwood. Colorado unsuccessfully challenged that Jonathan Toews interfered with Blackwood. O'Connor sealed it with an empty-net goal at 17:51, his 33rd of the season. Blackwood made 17 saves. Vilardi scored his 28th goal 3:51 into the game and Nelson tied it on a redirect for his 33rd of the season midway through the first. Cale Makar had the primary assist on Nelson's goal, his 52nd of the season. It was the 500th point of his career since debuting with the Avalanche in 2019. He reached the total in his 467th career game, fourth fastest among defensemen in NHL history. Koepke put the Jets back in front 2:14 into the second period but Kelly tied it at 18:05 with his career-best 17th of the season.

Up next Jets: At Chicago on Tuesday night. Avalanche: Host Calgary on Monday night. ___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl