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. 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Jets defenseman Neil Pionk collected the puck and snapped it back in the other direction for a 2-on-2 where Rasmus Kupari had a clear advantage on Manson coming from the bench and directed a feed from Morgan Barron past Mackenzie Blackwood at 10:20 of the second. Devon Toews has had some Grade-A chances to score in recent games but collected his second goal of the season at 16:37 on a fortunate bounce. Cale Makar hit Toews cutting to the net in the left circle. He whiffed on the first attempt but was able to get enough of the second for it to trickle through Comrie’s legs and across the goal line. Gabe Vilardi brought Winnipeg back again late in the period. Stanley’s attempt to get the puck to the front of the net was deflected but still ended up bouncing right to Vilardi at the edge of the crease with 1:28 left in the second. Colorado’s Ross Colton added an empty-netter to finish off the scoring. Blackwood won for the fifth time in six starts since arriving in a trade from San Jose, but Mittelstadt getting back on track could be the biggest development from this contest … assuming Nichushkin’s injury isn’t serious. “I understand. I’m not mad at anyone,” Mittelstadt said of his demotion. “I think I have myself to blame. (The coaching staff) has been great, watching a lot of video with me. Ray (Bennett) has been working with me the whole time. “He said, ‘We’re going to get back to where you we know you can be. We’re going to rebuild it a little bit.’ I’m on board with that. I want to play better and I want to be a better player.” Want more Avalanche news? Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis.