
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) - Bryan Little scored twice and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-1 on Sunday night to move into a tie with Toronto for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Ondrej Pavelec made 31 saves to help the Jets, playing the second game in an eight-game homestand, increase their winning streak to three and close within a point of Southeast Division-leading Florida.
Evander Kane had a goal and an assist, Kyle Wellwood and Andrew Ladd also scored and Blake Wheeler had four assists. Gabriel Landeskog scored for Colorado.
The Jets improved to 18-9-2 in the always-raucous MTS Centre.
Kane opened the scoring at 1:45 of the second period, beating goalie Semyon Varlamov with a quick backhander through traffic from the left circle for his team-leading 22nd goal.
Little was the recipient of a gift from defenseman Erik Johnson, whose blind clearing attempt gave the Winnipeg center a wide-open net to shoot at 3:30 of the second.
Landeskog beat Pavelec low to the blocker side on a power play at 10:42 of the period. The rookie has 15 goals.
The Jets restored their two-goal lead 46 seconds later when Kane's high shot ricocheted off the glass and Wellwood jammed it into the Colorado net.
Ladd and Little scored power-play goals in the third period to cap the scoring. Litle has 18 goals.
NOTES: Varlamov finished with 20 saves. ... Winnipeg forward Eric Fehr returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch the previous four games. Jets defenceman Zach Bogosian sat out his third consecutive game with an upper-body injury. ... Avalanche forward Matt Duchene returned to the lineup after missing 20 games because of a knee injury.
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Winning Goaltender |
Losing Goaltender |
| TEAM | GP | W | L | OT | GF | GA | PTS | ||
| 1 | p - CHI | 48 | 36 | 7 | 5 | 155 | 102 | 77 | |
| 2 | y - ANA | 48 | 30 | 12 | 6 | 140 | 118 | 66 | |
| 3 | y - VAN | 48 | 26 | 15 | 7 | 127 | 121 | 59 | |
| 4 | x - STL | 48 | 29 | 17 | 2 | 129 | 115 | 60 | |
| 5 | x - LAK | 48 | 27 | 16 | 5 | 133 | 118 | 59 | |
| 6 | x - SJS | 48 | 25 | 16 | 7 | 124 | 116 | 57 | |
| 7 | x - DET | 48 | 24 | 16 | 8 | 124 | 115 | 56 | |
| 8 | x - MIN | 48 | 26 | 19 | 3 | 122 | 127 | 55 | |
| 9 | CBJ | 48 | 24 | 17 | 7 | 120 | 119 | 55 | |
| 10 | PHX | 48 | 21 | 18 | 9 | 125 | 131 | 51 | |
| 11 | DAL | 48 | 22 | 22 | 4 | 130 | 142 | 48 | |
| 12 | EDM | 48 | 19 | 22 | 7 | 125 | 134 | 45 | |
| 13 | CGY | 48 | 19 | 25 | 4 | 128 | 160 | 42 | |
| 14 | NSH | 48 | 16 | 23 | 9 | 111 | 139 | 41 | |
| 15 | COL | 48 | 16 | 25 | 7 | 116 | 152 | 39 | |
| SKATERS: | GP | G | A | +/- | Pts |
| P. Parenteau | 48 | 18 | 25 | -11 | 43 |
| M. Duchene | 47 | 17 | 26 | -12 | 43 |
| P. Stastny | 40 | 9 | 15 | -7 | 24 |
| J. McGinn | 47 | 11 | 11 | -13 | 22 |
| J. Mitchell | 47 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 20 |
| R. O'Reilly | 29 | 6 | 14 | -3 | 20 |
| G. Landeskog | 36 | 9 | 8 | -4 | 17 |
| T. Barrie | 32 | 2 | 11 | -11 | 13 |
| C. McLeod | 48 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
| M. Hejduk | 29 | 4 | 7 | -7 | 11 |
| GOALIES: | W | L | OT | Sv% | GAA |
| J. Giguere | 5 | 4 | 4 | .908 | 2.84 |
| S. Varlamov | 11 | 21 | 3 | .903 | 3.02 |