Avalanche take series over Jets in 5 games

Mikko Rantanen scored twice in the third period as the Colorado Avalanche won 6-3 in Tuesday's Game 5 to eliminate the Winnipeg Jets.

The Avalanche will play either the Dallas Stars or Vegas Golden Knights in the second round. Colorado is the first lower seed to advance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year.

"We came in really humble this year," star forward Nathan MacKinnon told Sportsnet's Scott Oake. "We were really bad down the stretch. We got beat by these guys 7-0 at home, and for whatever reason, it just kind of woke us up that we really needed to fix some things. Right now, we've got every guy playing really hard and playing the right way."

The Jets dropped four straight games after winning the series opener 7-6. Winnipeg became the first team in NHL history to allow five or more goals in five consecutive contests to commence a postseason, according to Sportsnet Stats.

Vezina Trophy favorite Connor Hellebuyck ends the series with an .864 save percentage and a 5.23 goals-against average.

Colorado lost to the Seattle Kraken in Round 1 last season after winning the Stanley Cup in 2022. It's the second straight first-round exit in five games for the Jets, who lost to the eventual champion Vegas Golden Knights last year.