Avs ground Jets, 7-1

In Denver, the Winnipeg Jets took an early 1-0 lead on Thursday over the Avalanche.

Gabriel Landeskog hit for a hat trick for the Avs as they scored seven straight goals in a 7-1 thrashing of the Jets.

The line of Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon (goal) and Mikko Rantanen (goal) racked up 12 points in the win.

“I thought right out of the gate they were involved physically, real assertive on loose pucks,” Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said. “They checked and got rewarded for their hard work. They were a hardworking line tonight.”

Colorado improved to 20-8-2.

“We’re looking to be a consistent line for hopefully 82 games this year,” MacKinnon said. “We know our roles on the line. Each of us has a different one, which makes us very tough to play against. So far, it’s been good.”

Darcy Kuemper made 34 saves in the Avs win.

Mark Scheifele staked the Jets to the early lead.

“They’re one of the best lines in the League,” the Jets’ Adam Lowry said of Landeskog, MacKinnon and Rantanen. “All three of them are elite, they’re elite at different things and they complement each other extremely well. With an active back end like Colorado has, it seems like they come at you with four or five guys. They always seem to know where each other is and they can create those chances.”

Winnipeg dropped to 16-12-5.

“We did a lot of really good things (in the first),” Winnipeg coach Dave Lowry said. “We executed on the power play, we managed the game, we got the pucks in and we had some good chances. There was a lot to like coming out of 20 minutes.”

Nazem Kadri and Bowen Byram also scored for the Avs.

“Obviously, I want to score more goals, definitely, but a lot of my assists have come just from shooting,” MacKinnon said. “I’m trying to make plays, but I still want to generate a ton of shots and hopefully try to find some more goals. I have four (in 20 games this season), which isn’t fantastic, but it’s not only about that. I try to help in a lot of different ways.”

Connor Hellebuyck made 35 saves in the Jets loss.

“It [stinks] to be blown out like that,” Scheifele said. “We’ve got six days of practice before our next one (at the Detroit Red Wings on Jan. 13). Hopefully we can get some guys healthy and off the COVID protocol. Lots of time to work on some stuff and fix some stuff, and we have to take advantage of it.”