WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Bryan Little scored three goals to help the Winnipeg Jets beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-2 on Friday night.
Chris Thorburn had his first goal of the season, Andrew Ladd had a goal and an assist and Dustin Byfuglien also scored for the Jets. Little's hat trick was the first for the franchise since Eric Boulton had three goals for the Atlanta Thrashers on Dec. 18, 2010.
Little scored twice 32 seconds apart early in the third period and also had an assist. Blake Wheeler assisted on all three of Little's goals.
Jarome Iginla scored both goals for the Avalanche and Gabriel Landeskog had two assists.
Rookie Michael Hutchinson made 20 saves for Winnipeg, which improved to 4-0-1 in its last five games — with the loss coming in overtime to Boston.
Semyon Varlamov stopped 25 of 30 shots for Colorado before he was replaced by Reto Berra after Little's third goal at 1:17 of the third period. Berra stopped six of the seven shots he faced.
Thorburn scored off a rebound from defenseman Paul Postma's point shot, sending the puck over Varlamov at 4:31 of the first period. It was the eighth straight game and 18th of its last 27 Winnipeg scored first.
The Avalanche didn't get their first shot on goal until almost nine minutes into the period.
Their second shot resulted in Iginla's fifth goal of the season as the puck went over the glove of Hutchinson, who may have been partially screened by defenseman Mark Stuart, at 9:19.
Little put the Jets back ahead on a goal that was reviewed, with a ruling that his shot from a sharp angle was caught in Varlamov's glove behind the goal line with 7:31 remaining in the period.
Winnipeg outshot Colorado 16-4 in the first.
The second period featured missed opportunities by both teams until Ladd scored his ninth of the season with 45 seconds to go. He tipped in defenseman Ben Chiarot's shot for the goal, giving Chiarot his first NHL point in his second career game.
Winnipeg widened the shots gap to 26-9 through two periods.
Little scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season 32 seconds apart to open the third period.
His first goal beat Varlamov 45 seconds into the period and his second came after a scramble around the net. Little was turning around just outside the crease, saw the loose puck and sent it into the net at 1:17 for the 5-1 lead.
Tempers flared with just under 14 minutes left in the game, with an early tripping call on Winnipeg and roughing penalties from the dustups giving Colorado a two-man advantage for 13 seconds.
Little had a chance for a fourth goal into an empty net midway through the period, but Avalanche center Ryan O'Reilly was back and blocked the shot.
Iginla scored his sixth of the season on the power play with 9:36 remaining after Zach Redmond sent a pass across the crease as he was falling and Iginla popped the puck over Hutchinson.
Byfuglien extended his goal-scoring streak to three games with an unassisted blast from the point that beat Berra on the glove side with 6:40 to go.
Winnipeg finished with a 37-22 advantage on shots.
NOTES: Injuries to three Winnipeg defensemen, including the top pair of Tobias Enstrom and Zach Bogosian, meant Byfuglien was back playing defense instead of the wing. ... Grant Clitsome (upper body) is expected to miss about two weeks, Enstrom (lower body) up to three weeks and Bogosian (foot) might be gone four to six weeks. ... Winnipeg hosts Anaheim on Sunday afternoon to finish a three-game homestand. Colorado returns home and doesn't play again until hosting Nashville on Tuesday.
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