The Winnipeg Jets wrapped up a two-game road trip in Colorado with a 3-2 victory in overtime over the Avalanche, thanks to Neal Pionk.

Just like the first period in Utah, nothing much happened, besides a huge pad save by Connor Hellebuyck with 5.1 seconds left in the period to keep it a 0-0 game.

The shots were 9-8 in favour of Colorado after 20 minutes.

Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring with his 19th goal of the season at 6:09. MacKinnon had plenty of time and space, firing a shot that rang off the iron. The puck bounced right back to him, and he quickly buried it past a diving Connor Hellebuyck to make it 1-0. Devon Toews (17) and Jonathan Drouin (11) assisted on the play.

The MacKinnon goal is the first goal Colorado has scored in the regular season against Hellebuyck in a span of 215 minutes and 28 seconds—so that’s nearly 11 full periods of hockey. Crazy.

The Jets answered back with a beautiful backhand pass from David Gustafsson to Morgan Barron, who redirected the puck past Mackenzie Blackwood for his 5th goal of the season. Gustafsson (1) and Josh Morrissey (36) earned the assists at 10:56.

You could faintly hear “Macarena” playing in the background after Gabriel Vilardi extended the Jets’ lead at 18:44. It started as a huge scramble in front of Mackenzie Blackwood, but the puck eventually found its way back to Josh Morrissey, who fired a wrist shot toward the net. The puck deflected off Vilardi’s body and into the back of the net for his 20th goal of the season. Morrissey (37) and Vladislav Namestnikov (12) earned the assists.

The Avalanche originally had the 1-0 lead, but then the Jets fought back and got out of the middle frame up 2-1. Colorado led the shots 19-17.

Mikko Rantanen fed a nifty pass to Cale Makar and he drove the goal. Makar got tripped up in the middle of driving the net but he beat Hellebuyck on his forehand in the midst of falling to tie the game 2-2. Makar’s goal just shows how good he is—especially with Rantanen and MacKinnon. The goal was his 16th of the season at 7:35. Rantanen (39) and Drouin (12) collected the assists.

Nikolaj Ehlers took a tripping penalty at a crucial moment, taking down MacKinnon at 4:13. However, the Jets successfully killed off Colorado’s dangerous power play.

With the score tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, the game needed more than 60 minutes to decide a winner. Shots were 27-24 in favor of Colorado heading into overtime.

Neal Pionk stepped into what I like to call a “clap bomb,” blasting a rocket past Mackenzie Blackwood to win the game for the Jets, 3-2, in overtime. Pionk scored his 7th goal of the season, while Vladislav Namestnikov (7) and Jets’ goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (1) recorded the assists.

Well, we just watched the Colorado Avalanche get “Pionked.” If my memory serves me right, a couple of seasons ago, Pionk scored an identical slap shot goal in Colorado to win the game in overtime. Nonetheless, what a goal and a bounce-back performance by the Winnipeg Jets.

The Jets knew this wouldn’t be an easy outing, especially against a lethal, offensively skilled Avalanche team. Credit to Winnipeg for sticking with them and bouncing back after the disappointing loss to Utah this past Monday. It was a well-deserved win that they truly had to work for, especially with their captain, Adam Lowry, out with an injury.

The Jets return back home to begin a quick two-game homestand, starting with a rematch against the Utah Hockey Club this Friday. A game Winnipeg will want to win. Puck drop for that matchup is at 7:00 p.m. CT and you can watch it on TSN3.

Make sure to read the pre-game report and the post-game article after the game.