Colorado Avalanche vs. Winnipeg Jets Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 4/24/2022

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Canada Life Centre, Winnipeg, MA

Where to watch: TSN2, ALT

DraftKings: Avalanche -210, Jets +170

BetMGM: Avalanche -225, Jets +185

Caesars: Avalanche -208, Jets +175

Avalanche: 55-17-6

Jets: 35-32-11

Don’t get caught up in the three-game losing streak the Colorado Avalanche are currently on. Even though they’ve essentially clinched the top seed in the Western Conference, the Presidents Trophy is no longer in the cards it seems with four games to go.

But the good news for the Avalanche is they should absolutely be getting back on track in this road matchup with the Winnipeg Jets and should have no problem snapping this losing streak that I think has somehow concerned a bunch of people.

I do think, to an extent, the people are focusing on the wrong losing streak. We should be talking about Winnipeg’s slide and how far they’ve fallen short of expectations. This was considered one of the top teams in the Western Conference going into the season but have fallen so hard while the other Central teams have taken a leap (Nashville, Dallas, etc).

It’s a shame that the Jets have wasted a 44-goal season from Kyle Connor and that the talent on this team falling short big time.

"We're in the business to win hockey games," Winnipeg coach Dave Lowry said. "When you don't win hockey games, disappointment will resonate. These guys care, that's the biggest thing. They're going to compete right to the end."

And that’s all fine and dandy, and we can’t really put this on the departure of Paul Maurice at the beginning of the season, but it certainly showed that they’ve had to deal with a great deal when trying to figure out how to proceed going forward.

Meanwhile, the Avs are just trying to figure out how to win right now, but I wouldn’t think of it too much. Colorado is coming off a 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers in what was a tough outing for Avs goalie Darcy Kuemper.

There may not be a hotter skater right now at the right time than Valeri Nichushkin. The former first-round pick has seven points and three goals in his last five games. In a time where Nathan MacKinnon is not getting anything going, the Avs are in need of any offense it can. Nichushkin, as unlikely as possible, is that guy.

"Yeah, it's definitely concerning, we're shooting ourselves in the foot a lot of the time," MacKinnon said. "I feel like a lot of those goals are preventable -- most of them -- I can think of three. It doesn't matter who's in the lineup, we can be good with the puck, all of us are NHL-caliber players, we can make smart decisions. Regardless of the guys we're missing and regardless of the standings, we're trying to get better, and we need to definitely improve."

I think it’s understandable that the Avs are getting the losing out of the way now before the playoffs begin because of how much hockey they’ve played as of lately.

"I thought we competed real hard, it was a physical game," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "I didn't love our first few minutes of that game and then I thought we really started to play. And a couple of turnovers and I'd say a handful or just over a handful of execution problems cost us that game."

If there’s a time for MacKinnon to break out of his slump, and his team’s slump, I’d say it’d be now. If Mikko Rantanen isn’t available due to an illness for the third straight game, someone’s got to step up and start scoring some goals. It seems like the night that MacKinnon to be cleared for takeoff. Avalanche win 5-2

Avalanche are 10-4 off a road loss this season.

Avalanche are 15-7 this season off a loss this season.

Jets are 9-24 after an under this season.

Avalanche:

Artturi Lehkonen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Valeri Nichushkin

Andre Burakovsky -- Nazem Kadri -- J.T. Compher

Nicolas Aube-Kubel -- Nico Sturm -- Alex Newhook

Andrew Cogliano -- Darren Helm -- Logan O'Connor

Cale Makar -- Bowen Byram

Samuel Girard -- Josh Manson

Kurtis MacDermid -- Jack Johnson

Darcy Kuemper

Jets:

Kyle Connor -- Paul Stastny -- Nikolaj Ehlers

Zach Sanford -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Blake Wheeler

Morgan Barron -- Adam Lowry -- Mason Appleton

Jansen Harkins -- Dominic Toninato -- Evgeny Svechnikov

Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo

Nate Schmidt -- Neal Pionk

Dylan Samberg -- Brenden Dillon

Eric Comrie

Statistical leaders

Points: Mikko Rantanen -- 91

Goals: Mikko Rantanen -- 36

Assists: Cale Makar -- 58

Goalie: Darcy Kuemper -- 36-11-3, 2.48 GAA, .923 SV%

Points: Kyle Connor -- 88

Goals: Kyle Connor -- 44

Assists: Kyle Connor -- 44

Goalie: Connor Hellebuyck -- 27-27-10, 2.93 GAA, .911 SV%