Casey Mittelstadt goes from doghouse to hero in Avalanche win

Casey Mittelstadt began the night with a demotion. He ended it the hero.

Mittelstadt’s first goal in 19 games helped the Avalanche defeat the division-leading Winnipeg Jets, 5-2, Tuesday night at Ball Arena. It was the Avs’ fifth win in a row and ninth in the past 11 contests.

“That was great,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “You could tell (Mittelstadt) had a little extra giddy up in his step today. Just hanging onto the puck, counter-flowing, skating, trying to make plays. He was much quicker on the defensive side of it.

That’s the best game he’s played in a while.”

The Jets played the night before and didn’t start 2024 Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck, but backup Eric Comrie had a great outing in his place with 33 saves. The Avs began the night as healthy as they’ve been all season, which led to the recently slumping Mittelstadt starting the game as the center on the fourth line.

He made it a 3-2 advantage by re-directing a shot from Josh Manson, who had a pair of primary assists.

“It’s been a while, so it was good,” Mittelstadt said. “I feel like that’s how you usually get first one after it’s been a while. It was a heck of a play by (Manson). I’m just happy it was at a good moment for the team and a big win for us.”

This was the first time Colorado’s top-10 offensive players were in the lineup together all season, but that bit of good health lasted fewer than 36 minutes.

Valeri Nichushkin did not play in the final 24:47 of this game after getting hit along the boards by Winnipeg’s Logan Stanley. Nichushkin appeared to be elbowed in the head, and he had some words for the nearest official as he went to the bench. The Avs said Nichushkin was officially out with a lower-body injury, and Bednar confirmed the hit to his head wasn’t part of the injury.

“It shouldn’t surprise me at this point, but it sucks,” Bednar said. “We’ve talked about just trying to get deeper through our lineup. I feel like the guys who are playing are giving us everything they’ve got, but we just constantly have … that will push us back up to four guys out again. It’s not easy. It makes your job that much more difficult.”

Artturi Lehkonen put the Avalanche ahead midway through the opening period. He got position on Stanley in front of the Winnipeg net and was able to deflect a shot from the right point by Manson despite being checked to the ice at 11:51.

That was Lehkonen’s 14th goal in 26 games this season, and four in the past two contests after a hat trick in Salt Lake City four nights ago.