Jets bomb Avalanche in first-round playoff preview

Sean Monahan had two goals and an assist, Adam Lowry also scored twice, and the Winnipeg Jets routed the Colorado Avalanche 7-0 in Denver on Saturday in a preview of their first-round playoff series.

Winnipeg (50-24-6, 106 points) swept the four games between the teams and is now two points ahead of Colorado (49-25-6, 104 points) in the Central Division with two games remaining.

A playoff series between the two teams was locked in when the Dallas Stars defeated the Seattle Kraken 3-1 earlier Saturday, giving Dallas the Central title.

The Jets need two points in their final two games to secure home ice for the first-ever postseason matchup between the teams.

Connor Hellebuyck had 30 saves for his fifth shutout of the season and the second in a row for Winnipeg. The Jets have won six straight.

Josh Morrissey added a goal and two assists, Tyler Toffoli and Gabriel Vilardi also scored and David Gustafsson, Kyle Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers contributed two assists each for Winnipeg.

Colorado has dropped four of its last six games. The Avalanche also lost defenseman Samuel Girard to an upper-body injury in the first period on Saturday. He didn't return.

The shutout was the first suffered at home by Colorado this season and was just the second in 40 games in Denver that Nathan MacKinnon didn't register a point. MacKinnon is second in the NHL in scoring with a franchise-record 137 points.

The Jets took control of the game early. Monahan got his first of the day 5:59 in and Vilardi made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 8:02. It was his 21st of the season

Morrissey made it 3-0 with another power-play goal at 15:07 of the first, his 10th on the year, and just 10 seconds later Lowry scored on a rebound to chase Avalanche netminder Alexandar Georgiev, who allowed four goals on 15 shots.

Justus Annunen had eight saves in relief of Georgiev.

Winnipeg made it a rout with three quick goals in the second period. Toffoli scored his 32nd of the year at 10:19, Monahan's second of the day and 26th on the season made it 6-0 at 15:11. Lowry scored his 12th of the year and second of the game at 16:33.