Avs take 3-1 series on the road to Winnipeg Nichushkin  hits for hat trick in win

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In Denver, the Avalanche’s Valeri Nichushkin  hit for a hat trick on Sunday in a 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets.

Alexandar Georgiev made 26 saves in the win.

“I’ve really liked all four games from our group,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “We made some mistakes in Game 1. We made less in Game 2. We made less in Game 3. We probably made less here tonight on the defensive side of things. But our compete level and the intensity that we’re playing with, the speed and pace we’re playing with, the commitment that the team has playing with, has been great in all four games.”

Artturi Lehkonen and Cale Makar had single markers in the win.

Lehkonen staked the Avs to a 1-0 lead at 8:10 of the opening stanza.

“If you really watch video and dissect video and look at how many plays that ‘Lehky’ makes on any given night, on the offensive side, on the defensive side, he doesn’t get anywhere near enough credit for what he does for our team,” Bednar said. “And he’s so valuable to our team in every aspect: power play penalty, kill 5-on-5, down goals, up goals, scores big goals. I mean, this guy is a relentless worker. This guy’s a warrior.”

Nate Schmidt  was the lone striker for the Jets, his goal at 13:56 of the first tied the game, 1-1.

“There’s clear differences in their game compared to the regular season. They’re playing fast. Their [defensemen] are moving pucks. They’re moving to areas quicker than we are,” the Jets’ Mark Scheifele said. “It seems like it’s almost like endless, over and over and over, and we’re not able to get that puck stopped. We’ve got to find ways to change that.

“Obviously they’re a fantastic team. They’ve shown that shift in and shift out. They battle hard. They make it hard to get to their net, and we’ve got to change our game a little bit.”

Nichushkin potted his first on the power play at 11:36 of the middle frame.

“He’s been awesome for us. Obviously, he’s a train driving that front end right now,” said Makar. “So whether it’s being in front of the net or just being in the corners, I think especially for us as a D-core, we want to reward guys that are going to the net. So [we] try and get pucks there for them or put it in their hands so they can make plays.”

Makar picked up his marker at 15:03 for a 3-1 advantage to the Avs.

“I think our forwards had pushed back their [defensemen] so much, and I think my first option I was looking at was kind of kicking that out to, I think, Mikko [Rantanen] on my right,” Makar said. “And then once I saw that [defense] backed off quite a bit, I just tried to throw it to the net and just get it far side.”

Game 5 is set for Winnipeg on Tuesday.

Nichushkin hit for his double at 19:36 of the second, scoring off a power play from near the crease.

“He’s a huge part of our squad. We all know what a great player he is, and it’s hard to stop the big man,” said Lehkonen. “We started off well, got a good start. I felt like the first two periods, we played really great, and then in the third, I think it was a mature third period from us.”

Nichushkin collected his hats with an an empty-net strike at 19:47 for the 5-1 final count on the scoreboard.

“He’s available for you and rock solid in almost every area of the game as a 200-foot player,” said Bednar. “Players like that, you can’t even describe what they bring to the team because it’s like competitive, hard-working skill, and they can play with anybody.”

Connor Hellebuyck got the start, he yielded four goals and made 26 saves before getting the hook in the second intermission.

Laurent Brossoit made four saves in the third period.

“The problems are self-inflicted,” Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. “Wanna take penalties? Wanna play a three-quarter ice game? You’re playing right into their hands. Our issues are self-inflicted. You saw us play the right way for 10 minutes in the second half of the first period. You take four penalties, you turn the puck over. That’s exactly how they want to play. The issues are self-inflicted.