Pionk scores twice, giving Jets OT the win over Avalanche

DENVER– Neal Pionk scored his second goal of the game 31 seconds after overtime to give the Winnipeg Jets a 4-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche at the Ball Arena on Wednesday.

Pionk won it 2v1 with a slapshot from the right circle Adam Lowry.

“Shoot hard if you hit the puck,” Pionk said. “I went to the other side. I was a bit lucky but it was a good shot.

“They shot it far and it raced around the boards. It’s a simple game, but it doesn’t go unnoticed. [Mason Appleton] used his big body, made a nice little game with me and I put it on the net.”

Video: WPG@COL: Pionk fires a slap shot for the OT winner

Cole Perfetti had a goal and an assist, Appleton had two assists and Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves for the Jets (2-1-0) playing Thursday’s Vegas Golden Knights.

Winnipeg was again without coach Rick Bowness, who tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of his Oct. 14 season opener.

“We were pretty good for the last 34 minutes,” said assistant coach Scott Arniel. “We flipped some pucks at our end of the rink and they got them back [to even]. Our big message for the third is that we were going into a tied game. Just stick with what we’ve been doing for most of the game. Those were our details and the things we talked about this morning, our competition and protecting our net front and we found a way to win.

Valery Nikhushkin scored for the fourth time in a row, Mikko Rantanen had two goals and one assist, and Alexander Georgiev made 24 saves for the Avalanche (2-1-1).

“That’s a hard-working team over there,” said Colorado coach Jared Bednar. “They are a strong team, especially the forward group. And to me, we weren’t skating or committed enough to start. We really enjoyed the second half of our game.”

Video: WPG@COL: Nichushkin Grabs Home Pass for a PPG

Sam Gagner scored a loose puck in front on the power play at 6:52 of the first period to give the Jets a 1-0 lead.

“They were running faster on the loose pucks, just winning battles, and I think we just weren’t moving like we should,” Rantanen said. “Skating is our greatest strength.

Pionk made it 2-0 with a one-timer between faceoff circles at 13:21 while playing 4-on-4.

“Another great game from ‘Appy’,” said Pionk. “I jumped in the rush. I jumped out because I couldn’t make it into the net. He saw me, made a little slip and it went into the net.”

Video: WPG@COL: Pionk hammers home a one-timer in a hurry

Rantanen reduced the lead to 2-1 when he typed a Nathan MacKinnon Pass from the top of the crease at 2:14 of the second period.

“I was just trying to go to the net and stop there and we had a couple of long shifts where the defense got tired,” said Rantanen. “Nice passes.”

Perfetti pushed to 3:1 when he gave a cross pass once Blake Wheeler at 9:44.

“This line (Perfetti, Wheeler, Pierre Luc Dubois) went a little under the radar; they played a really good game,” said Arniel. “They spent an incredible amount of time in the offensive zone. That was probably the best game I’ve ever seen Cole play just by showing and the first pair. He was really good, really smart with the puck and [made] really good decisions. And when he had to go back, he did a good job. This line has been rewarded with good work.”

Rantanen reduced the lead to 3-2 with a one-timer Bowen Byram at 16:26, and Nichushkin equaled 3-3 on the power play at 18:27 when he finished a give-and-go with Rantanen between the circles.

“[Nichushkin is] play like last year. He’s skating,” said Rantanen. “He’s a really big guy. It’s hard to get the puck off him, so he’s doing well and he’s creating his chances. So good to see that.”

REMARKS: Forward Nikolai Ehlers was a late scratch from a nagging injury, according to Arniel. … Pionk’s winning goal was his first goal in NHL overtime. Since then, he has become the first Jets defender with a multi-goal game Tyler Myers on February 16, 2019. … Rantanen has 168 goals and has moved past Alex Tanguay to 10th in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history. … MacKinnon had finished his multipoint game streak with three but had an assist to extend his point streak to four (two goals, six assists). … Colorado scored on its only power play and leads the NHL by 53.9 percent (7 to 13) but conceded a power play goal in its fourth straight game and is last in the NHL on penalties (7 to 13) . -14.50 percent).