Winnipeg Jets vs. Colorado Avalanche: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 10/19/2022

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Venue: Ball Arena, Denver, CO

Where to watch:  SN1, SNW, ALT2

DraftKings: Avalanche -210, Jets +180

FanDuel: Avalanche -230, Jets +188

BetMGM: Avalanche -238, Jets +190

Caesars: Avalanche -225, Jets +185

Jets: 1-1-0

Avalanche: 2-1-0

There’s nothing teams might dread more than the Colorado-Vegas back-to-back, and the Winnipeg Jets are succumbed to having that at their latest marker. The Jets will take on the defending Stanley Cup champions on Wednesday followed by a showdown with Vegas on Thursday. But before we get there, the Jets are currently in a bit of a cluster at the moment with head coach Rick Bowness still in COVID protocol and the Jets coming off a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Monday. Meanwhile, the Avalanche are, well, the Avalanche. They’re going to score a lot of goals just when you think you have them right where you want them defensively.

Winnipeg couldn’t get anything going against Jake Oettinger, which of course is the norm at this point. Oettinger stopped 23 of 24, meaning the Dallas defense did some things right to slow down the slow, trudging Jets. They’ve always been a heavy team, so when you can hem them in their own zone and prevent them from making any plays, it’s bound to be a good time for the opposition.

"First period, I thought it was pretty even," Jets forward Adam Lowry said. "In the second period, they started playing with more speed, more transition. We didn't have an answer for it. That's something we take a look at and see where we can improve in the neutral zone and managing pucks and things like that. Maybe be a little more direct."

I mean, if you say so. That’s one way of putting it. But the Jets have to figure out how they want to divide the goaltending situation for this back-to-back. Connor Hellebuyck going against Colorado makes more sense over David Rittich and saving the latter for the Golden Knights. No matter what the opposition is, it’s going to be tough for Winnipeg to do things it wants to against Colorado when the Avs just score goals at will.

The Avalanche, meanwhile, have sort of struggled coming out of the gates but rebounded nicely on Monday to the tune of a 6-3 win over the Minnesota Wild in St. Paul. When you get Nathan MacKinnon and Valeri Nichushkin registering 3-point nights, you’re likely doing something right. Alexandar Georgiev had to make 36 saves and gave up three goals, which of course he’s not looking like the ideal replacement to Darcy Kuemper at the moment, but they’re finding ways to get it done and really that’s what matters in the end.

"I thought [Georgiev] was really good again," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "You look at the goals he's given up so far this season, it's all power play and one with a delayed penalty with the goalie pulled. Five-on-5, he's been strong. It seems like he's reading where the chances are coming from. He's been early getting over into position and making some nice saves. I thought both goalies played really well at the end of the game. There was a couple flurries at both ends, but 'Georgie' made the big four saves on that one scrum which kind of keeps us with our lead."

If Hellebuyck goes for Winnipeg, the chances of them hanging around long enough are great. I personally think they use Rittich for Vegas, but it won’t matter in the end. Colorado is winning this game. Avalanche win 5-2

Jets are 51-38 after a division game over the last three years.

Jets are 18-19 off a road loss the last three years.

Avalanche are 71-31 off a division game the last three years and are 70-34 against division opponents.

Avalanche are 36-15 off a road win the last three years.

Jets:

Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Nikolaj Ehlers

Cole Perfetti -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Blake Wheeler

Morgan Barron -- Adam Lowry -- Mason Appleton

Saku Maenalanen -- David Gustafsson -- Sam Gagner

Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo

Brenden Dillon -- Neal Pionk

Logan Stanley -- Nate Schmidt

Connor Hellebuyck

Avalanche:

Artturi Lehkonen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen

Evan Rodrigues -- Alex Newhook -- Valeri Nichushkin

Andrew Cogliano -- J.T. Compher -- Logan O'Connor

Kurtis MacDermid -- Lukas Sedlak -- Ben Meyers

Devon Toews -- Cale Makar

Bowen Byram -- Josh Manson

Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson

Alexandar Georgiev

Points: Two tied -- 3

Goals: Mark Schiefele -- 3

Assists: Nikolaj Ehlers -- 3

Goalie: Connor Hellebuyck -- 1-1-0, 2.50 GAA, .929 SV%

Points: Nathan MacKinnon -- 7

Goals: Valeri Nichushkin -- 4

Assists: Nathan MacKinnon -- 5

Goalie: Alexandar Georgiev -- 2-0-0, 2.51 GAA, .911 SV%