The Colorado Avalanche got a hat trick from Valeri Nichushkin to lead the team in defeating the Winnipeg Jets 5-1 in Game 4 of their NHL Playoff series. Nathan MacKinnon got two assists to help the Avalanche go up 3-1 in the series.
The Avalanche jumped on the board first when Artturi Lehkonen took a Casey Mittlestadt pass in front of the net and buried the shot behind Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. Lehkonen became the third player in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history with a postseason-opening goal streak of at least four games.
The Jets tied the game later in the first period on a Nate Schmidt goal, which was challenged by the Avalanche for the Jets being offside. However, the NHL did not reverse the goal, stating, “There was no conclusive video evidence to determine that Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor preceded the puck into the attacking zone before Nate Schmidt’s goal.”
The second and third periods were all Avalanche, as they got two goals from Nichushkin and one from Cale Makar. Lehkonen and Nichushkin became the third set of teammates in NHL history with simultaneous postseason-opening goal streaks of four or more games.
Nichushkin added an empty netter with 12 seconds left in the game to give him the hat trick.
Hellebuyck was pulled after the second period, having made 26 saves on 30 shots. His replacement, Lauren Broissot, saved all four shots he saw.
After struggling early in the series, Alexandar Georgiev has recorded a .926 save percentage over his last two games, stopping 50 of 54 shots faced. Tonight he stopped 26 of the 27 shots he faced.
NHL Debut
Nikolai Kovalenko became the sixth player in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history to make his NHL debut in the playoffs. His father, Andrei, skated parts of four seasons with the Avalanche/Nordiques from 1992-93 to 1995-96. They became the fourth father-son tandem to each dress at least one regular-season or playoff game with the franchise.
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Andrei was drafted 148th overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft while playing in Russia for HC CSKA Moscow. He played with the Nordiques/Avalanche before he was traded from the Avalanche to the Montreal Canadiens with Jocelyn Thibault and Martin Ručinský for Patrick Roy and Mike Keane.
Game 5 between the Avalanche and Jets will be on Tuesday, April 30, at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.