Winnipeg Jets' Gabriel Vilardi (13) and Colorado Avalanche's Nathan MacKinnon (29) collide during second period NHL action in Winnipeg, Thursday, March 26, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

By The Canadian Press

MacKinnon inches closer to 50-goal mark as Avalanche defeat Jets 3-2

Mar 26, 2026 | 8:53 PM

WINNIPEG — Nathan MacKinnon scored his 47th and 48th goals of the season to propel the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday.

Jack Drury scored his career-high ninth goal of the season for the NHL-leading Avalanche (48-13-10), who ended a four-game road trip with a 4-0-0 record and are riding a five-game point streak (4-0-1).

Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 22 shots for Colorado.

Mark Scheifele scored twice and leads the Jets (30-30-12) with 34 goals.

Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves in front of 14,357 fans at Canada Life Centre.

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The Jets snapped a three-game point streak (2-1-1) and are 4-2-2 in their last eight games.

Takeaways

Jets: Scheifele set a career-high in points when his pair of goals gave him 88 points. He also played his 951st game as a Jet, surpassing Thomas Steen from the 1.0 version of the Jets. Winnipeg did show a lot of effort, blocking 22 shots.

Avalanche: Colorado entered the game ranked 27th on the power play, but made good on a big opportunity. Six seconds after a 38-second two-man advantage expired, MacKinnon scored 13 seconds into the third to break the 1-1 tie with the power-play marker. He added his second goal at 3:55. Artturi Lehkonen assisted on that second marker in his return after missing 11 games with an upper-body injury.

Key moment

The Jets challenged MacKinnon’s second goal for goaltender interference, but it stood and gave Colorado a 3-1 lead early in the third.

Key stat

The Avalanche hold the league’s best road record at 25-7-5. They’re 23-6-5 at home.

Up next

Jets: Begin a four-game road trip with a rematch in Colorado on Saturday.

Avalanche: Host the Jets on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2026.

Judy Owen, The Canadian Press