DENVER (AP) — The Winnipeg Jets clinched their first playoff spot in eight seasons Thursday night despite a 1-0 shootout loss to the Avalanche.
Ryan O’Reilly and Matt Duchene scored in the shootout, and Reto Berra stopped both Winnipeg shots. Berra finished with a season-high 41 saves, then stymied Blake Wheeler and Andrew Ladd in the shootout.
The Jets received help from Calgary to squeeze into the playoffs as a wild card when the Flames beat Los Angeles. The last time the franchise made the postseason was in 2006-07, when the team was the Atlanta Thrashers. The Jets are making their first playoff appearance since relocating to Winnipeg for the 2011-12 season.
Ondrej Pavelec had another brilliant night, stopping 21 shots through overtime. But O’Reilly beat him with a backhanded shot and Duchene followed with another.
Colorado did not make the playoffs this season.
Berra kept the game scoreless with 14 seconds remaining in regulation when Wheeler skated in and attempted a shot that Berra thwarted with his leg. Wheeler nearly had the winner in the waning seconds of OT, but he couldn’t quite wrap in a shot from behind the net.
Pavelec is on quite a roll, shutting out Minnesota and St. Louis earlier in the week. He’s started 12 of the team’s last 13 games and is 9-2-1.
Winnipeg forward Mathieu Perreault tumbled to the ice after a hit from behind midway through the second period. Perreault crawled his way to the bench, where he was assisted to the dressing room with a lower-body injury. He returned for one shift before heading back to the locker room.
It was a defensive first period, with few solid scoring chances even though both teams had a power play. Pavelec turned in the save of the period, blocking an up-close wrist shot from O’Reilly.
Colorado suffered a blow in the first period when defenseman Brad Stuart left with a leg injury.
All-Star defenseman Dustin Byfuglien served the fourth and final game of his suspension for his cross-check to the head of New York Rangers center J.T. Miller on March 31.
“It’s tough to sit there and watch,” Byfuglien said before the game. “It’s not fun. No one wants to do it, but the boys have played good hockey.”
The Avs are out the playoffs one season after tying a franchise record with 52 wins. General manager Joe Sakic chalked it up to a slow start, when the team began 3-6-5.
“We’re in the toughest (conference) so you can’t afford a slow start,” Sakic said. “We have to be ready to play right from the start.”
NOTES: Jets D Toby Enstrom missed a third straight game with an upper-body injury. … The Jets’ Paul Maurice coached in his 1,200th NHL game. “It’s not a milestone. It’s just a game,” the 48-year-old Maurice said. “That’s the way it feels anyway.” … Avs coach Patrick Roy said F Dennis Everberg will probably undergo shoulder surgery. … Sakic hopes to work out a long-term deal with O’Reilly before the start of next season. … Berra started in goal for Semyon Varlamov, who will return to the net in the season finale against Chicago on Saturday.
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