Perfetti breaks tie in 3rd, Jets cool off Avalanche

DENVER -- Cole Perfetti scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period, and the Winnipeg Jets ended the Colorado Avalanche’s four-game winning streak with a 4-2 victory at Ball Arena on Saturday.

Gabriel Vilardi had a goal and an assist, and Cole Koepke and Kyle Connor scored for the Jets (31-30-12), who have won three of four and are 3-2-2 in their past seven. Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves.

Winnipeg is three points behind the Nashville Predators for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

“That was a gutsy team effort. That was everybody blocking shots, getting their noses in there, into the battles,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said. “That’s a heck of a hockey team over there. We tried to really do a job of taking away the rush game, that offensive-attack game that they have. There were times where we got stuck in our end, but it was that bend-don't-break mentality. But more than anything, I just, I thought that everybody found a way to play a little part in it.

“We looked at the scoreboard and we got some help around the League. That’s what we need, but you’ve got to win to gain ground. We did that. Now all of our focus zeroes in on Chicago (on Tuesday). It can’t be one of those ones where you have a great game here and then you take a big step back.”

Brock Nelson and Parker Kelly scored for the Avalanche (48-14-10), who were 4-0-1 in their previous five. Mackenzie Blackwood made 17 saves.

Colorado is first in the Central Division, seven points ahead of the Dallas Stars.

“Tight-checking hockey game, I think. They're playing for their lives right now, so expected them to come out hard and be desperate,” Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog said. “I thought for us tonight, it was just more about us not getting to our game frequently enough. We did at times, and then we'd have periods where we just couldn't get to our forecheck, and even if we did, we didn't really create too many scoring chances off of it.”

The teams split a home-and-home set, with the Avalanche winning 3-2 on Thursday.

Perfetti made it 3-2 at 14:49. He scored from the left hash marks with a downward tip of Jacob Bryson’s shot, sending a bouncing puck past Blackwood. Colorado challenged the play for goaltender interference on Jonathan Toews, but the call on the ice was upheld.

“I thought it was probably going to be their decision,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I challenged it because (of the) timing of it. We had one goal the whole game 5-on-5, right, and it's hard to create offense. And if they go up 3-2, you’ve got a couple shifts and then you're pulling the goalie. So if you can try to erase it off the board, I thought it's worth a shot. It's close enough, and if we don't, we just need another kill.”

Vilardi gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 3:51 of the first period, deflecting Josh Morrissey’s point shot down and past the blocker from the bottom of the left face-off circle.

“It’s huge. Every game’s huge,” Vilardi said. “We need to win every game just to keep afloat right now, to try and stay tied and then make up ground. … This is a huge win, coming in to play the best team in the NHL right now and winning. I’m not undermining that. It’s a good win for us.

“I don’t want to be sitting here a month from now not playing hockey. That would (stink). So that’s our thoughts and my thoughts right now.”

Nelson tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 8:59 when he redirected Nazem Kadri’s shot at the right hash marks. Cale Makar got the secondary assist for his 500th career point (136 goals, 364 assists).

“Obviously, this has got to be a place where teams (have) got to come in and feel our presence, and I felt like we didn't (do that),” Makar said. “We started OK today. Obviously, gave them a quick one, but yeah, I think there's different areas we can tighten up. We were working as hard as we can. Felt like our work ethic today was great, but just offensively just felt like we were a little disorganized sometimes and didn't really get much at the net.”

Koepke put the Jets back in front 2-1 at 2:14 of the second period. He cut inside Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns and fanned on a backhand-forehand shot from the slot, pushing the puck through the five-hole.

“I'd like to say I did (it on purpose), but no, I didn't,” Koepke said. “I didn't get all of it on the shot, but it went in. So that's all that matters for me. We've been in the spot where we need to win every game, but when we say we play the right way, that we can keep up with anyone, I think we've showed that kind of the past two games. I mean, we didn't get the win at home against these guys (on Thursday), but we still played a close game with them, and then tonight, we really dialed in and showed what we can do, and we seem to gain confidence from that and keep going.”

Kelly tied it 2-2 at 18:05, deflecting Josh Manson’s point shot while screening Hellebuyck in front.

Connor scored into an empty net at 17:51 for the 4-2 final.

NOTES: Makar (467 games) required the fourth-fewest games to reach 500 points by a defenseman in NHL history, after Bobby Orr (396 games), Paul Coffey (422 games) and Denis Potvin (465 games). … Morrissey recorded an assist and reached the 50-point mark (12 goals, 38 assists) for the fourth straight season. Only Dustin Byfuglien (five) has more in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history. … Vilardi set career highs in goals (28) and points (62).