Jets vs. Avalanche bloody finish in Game 3 result of unnecessary playoff mentality

The lasting impression, after all the players had been cleared from the ice and sent to the dressing room, was all that blood.

Blood everywhere. Blood flowing from either the wrist or the hand of Winnipeg Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon, the result of the foolish and unnecessary aftermath of what ended as a lopsided 6-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night. Blood on the jersey of Avalanche forward Brandon Duhaime, with whom Dillon got entangled in a meaningless scrum.

In his postgame media availability, Jets coach Rick Bowness could only offer that Dillon was being examined by the medical staff.

“Scary, scary situation there. I don’t really have anything to say but we’re all really concerned for him and just hoping everything’s OK,” added Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey.

For anyone who’s watched the NHL enough, what happened after the game ended followed a familiar script. Early in the third period, Winnipeg was nursing a one-goal lead in a close, entertaining, hard-fought, well-played game. Then, after the Avs tied it 2-2, the Jets’ Gabriel Vilardi was guilty of high-sticking the Avs’ Devon Toews.

There was a lot of blood there too flowing from Toews’ face — enough to warrant a double minor penalty against Vilardi. Naturally, Colorado — with one of the NHL’s most potent power plays — scored with the man advantage, a goal by Valeri Nichushkin, to go up 3-2. From there, the Avs won going away. There was the usual moaning on social media about the officiating but the reality is, the two calls that really hurt Winnipeg — Vilardi’s double minor and then a puck-over-the-glass call against Neal Pionk, were automatic.

No discretion or unnecessarily nuanced calls.

In the end, Colorado was the better team, and deserved the win — and it should have ended there. Both teams go home, reset on the off day and prepare for Sunday’s fourth game.

But from. It didn’t go that way. In the past, the Jets have been criticized for not having enough pushback when things go south. It felt as if they needed to send a message, ahead of Game 4, that they wouldn’t be pushed around. So there was a scrum in the final minute; which the referees cleared up, with mostly no harm done.

Time ran out, and that should have been that. But instead of going to the dressing room, the teams engaged in more pushing and shoving. Sometimes it’s harmless. But this time it wasn’t. Because once the gloves come off, and the players fall to the ice, and start rolling around with each other, bad things can happen. Skate blades are sharp. In this case, the victim was Dillon, who had to make a beeline to the dressing room, clutching his left arm, bleeding profusely.

It was just so unnecessary. The league doesn’t need it, and the Jets really don’t need it either. Dillon is just too critical a piece. They need him on the ice if they want to come back in the series.

Right now, the Jets have segued badly away from their identity, which is to play strong defensive hockey. In the last week of the regular season, they went into Colorado and clobbered the Avalanche 7-0. Hard to believe that was only 13 days ago. They were clicking on all cylinders.

But the playoffs are different from the regular season. Colorado has something of a playoff pedigree and on Friday night, the Avalanche got contributions from every corner of the lineup. It was a textbook comeback, capitalizing on their opportunities, making the presumptive Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck look decidedly ordinary.

Game 4 on Sunday is a chance for Winnipeg to regroup. The hope is that they have Dillon on hand to help turn the series around.

The stupidity at the end of the game, trying to prove a pointless point, ultimately helped by no one.

Least of all themselves.

— The Athletic‘s Murat Ates contributed to this report.

(Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)