Avalanche aim to gain ground on Central-leading Jets

The Colorado Avalanche are in the midst of a sterling 8-1-1 stretch that has put them in the thick of the Central Division race.

The Avalanche look to take another step forward on Saturday night when they visit the first-place Winnipeg Jets, who have lost four of their past five games (1-2-2).

Mikko Rantanen scored to hit the 25-goal mark for the fifth straight season and the seventh time in his career as Colorado routed the Minnesota Wild 6-1 on Thursday. The 28-year-old Finn also had an assist to boost his total to 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) in his past 16 games, a stretch that includes a goal in the Avalanche's 5-2 win over the Jets on New Year's Eve.

Like Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon and Logan O'Connor each scored and set up a goal on Thursday, and Jonathan Drouin and defenseman Josh Manson notched two assists apiece in the convincing victory.

"I really liked a lot of things in our game (at Minnesota)," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said after the contest. "It started with the attention to detail in our game. We went over some things this morning that were kind of hurting us over the last three games. I thought the guys did a nice job implementing what we talked about and correcting some of those mistakes."

Drouin and Manson each set up a pair of goals against Winnipeg on Dec. 31, and MacKinnon and O'Connor each had an assist.

Mackenzie Blackwood made 20 saves to pick up the win in that contest, and he turned aside 24 shots on Thursday to extend his point streak to eight games (7-0-1).

"That's the momentum of hockey," Blackwood said, per The Denver Post. "Sometimes you're on the wrong end of it. Sometimes you're on the right end of it. When you're on the right end of it, it's a lot of fun."

Mark Scheifele scored a power-play goal and Eric Comrie made 21 saves in Winnipeg's 2-1 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Friday. The setback dropped the Jets to 1-1-2 on their season-high eight-game homestand.

Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck, who leads the NHL in wins (25) and goals-against average (2.08), is expected to get the start in net on Saturday. He finished with 35 saves in the Jets' 1-0 win over Colorado on Nov. 7.

Scheifele set up Gabriel Vilardi's goal just 66 seconds into the first period of that contest. The same pair combined for a goal on Friday.

Jets defenseman Dylan Samberg logged 22:35 of ice time and blocked two shots in his return to the lineup on Friday night after missing 21 games with a broken foot.

"He's really important part of our D-core. He does things so well, especially on the (penalty kill). Pretty good defensively," Vilardi said. "I'm happy for him. He's been grinding away for the last month, month and a half or whatever it's been. Really happy to have him back."

Samberg sports a plus-12 rating to go along with three goals and three assists in 22 games this season.