Alexandar Georgiev made 28 saves and the visiting Colorado Avalanche beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 in Game 2 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series on Tuesday.
The Avalanche evened the best-of-seven series 1-1. Game 3 is in Colorado on Friday.
Artturi Lehkonen had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who rallied from a 2-1 deficit with three goals in the final 5:44 of the second period. Georgiev bounced back after allowing seven goals on 23 shots in a Game 1 loss.
David Gustafsson and Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets, and Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves.
Gustafsson gave the Jets a 1-0 lead at 3:15 of the first period. His tip-in attempt off Brenden Dillon’s shot was blocked by Georgiev, but during the ensuing scramble, Gustafsson knocked in the loose puck.
Miles Wood tied it 1-1 at 1:59 of the second period, scoring on a one-timer from the left circle off a faceoff win by Ross Colton.
Shortly after Wood tied it, the Jets killed off a four-minute Avalanche power play to keep the score tied.
Scheifele gave the Jets a 2-1 lead at 8:37. Gabriel Vilardi entered the zone 2-on-1 and passed across the ice to Scheifele, who extended his stick with one hand and redirected the puck past Georgiev.
Late in the period, Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor hit the post and, moments later, Lehkonen tied it, tipping in Cale Makar’s wrist shot from the point at 14:16.
Zach Parise gave the Avalanche a 3-2 lead at 17:20. After Hellebuyck misplayed the puck behind the net, Andrew Cogliano fed in front to Parise, who knocked in his own rebound.
Josh Manson made it 4-2 when he left the penalty box, received a stretch pass from Nathan MacKinnon and scored 5-hole on a breakaway with seven seconds remaining in the period.
Georgiev made a point-blank save on Nikolaj Ehlers with 5:21 remaining in the third period, and Valeri Nichushkin scored into an empty net with 57 seconds left for the 5-2 final.
–Field Level Media