The Winnipeg Jets' series-opening 7-6 victory against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday wasn't a masterclass in goaltending, but Connor Hellebuyck isn't worried about his performance one bit.

"This time of year, who cares about stats, really?" he said Monday. "Stats are just gonna be something people look at, pick apart, and talk about.

"At the end of the day, it's 'Did you win, or did you not win?' ... 16 wins (gets you) the Stanley Cup and that's my goal, so who really cares about everything else that goes with it?"

The likely Vezina Trophy winner surrendered six goals - including three at five-on-five - on 46 shots.

The Avalanche's underlying numbers during the contest were dominant. Colorado dictated 65.2% of the shot attempts and 68.2% of the expected goals while holding a 17-9 edge in high-danger chances at all strengths, per Natural Stat Trick.

"I felt like I had a really good game," Hellebuyck said. "When the results end up like that, I instantly know - I've been in this league long enough - it's gonna be, I gotta stop one more than the other guy."

Jets coach Rick Bowness didn't blame Hellebuyck for any of the goals against.

"Some of them had seeing eyes, some of them were bouncing all over the place, some of them were just dead giveaways on our part," the bench boss said Sunday, per NHL.com's Darrin Bauming.

He added, "It could have been worse. Seriously. ... And Connor had to play better and he made a lot of big saves at the right time, which he always does."

At the other end of the ice, Alexandar Georgiev fared much worse.

The Avalanche netminder conceded seven goals on just 23 shots for an abysmal .696 save percentage. He allowed 5.04 goals above expected in all situations.

Unlike Bowness, Colorado head coach Jared Bednar wasn't so quick to defend his goaltender's performance.

"(Georgiev's game) probably needed to be better, right?" he said. "I thought we played well, we created some chances. He made some good saves, but we're (going to) need like a couple more saves than that probably to win, you know?

"But it is what it is. We'll regroup. We made some mistakes in front of him that we'll have to clean up and try to get the job done. It's a team game."

Georgiev led all goalies with 38 wins in the regular season but owned an .897 save percentage, and his minus-12.45 goals saved above average was the seventh-worst mark in the league, per Evolving-Hockey.

The 28-year-old is focused on keeping his spirits high following Sunday's stinker.

"They scored some really good goals, a couple lucky ones," Georgiev said, according to the Denver Post's Corey Masisak. "You have to stay positive and try to find out what happened today and move forward. It's only 1-0 in the series, so I'm looking forward to the next game."

Game 2 is set for Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET.

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Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone returned to the lineup on Monday for Game 1 of his club's opening round against the Dallas Stars.

Stone was sidelined for the last 26 games of the regular season after sustaining a lacerated spleen on Feb. 20 against the Nashville Predators. Vegas went 13-11-2 in his absence and ended the campaign in the second wild-card spot of the Western Conference.

He racked up 16 goals and 53 points in 56 games prior to his absence.

The Golden Knights also welcomed back for defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and forward William Carrier.

Pietrangelo missed the past seven games and 13 of the last 15 contests. He was initially sidelined by an illness, but he ended up needing to get his appendix removed.

Carrier, meanwhile, last played on March 25 and has since been out with an upper-body injury.

Stone was cleared for contact and was a full participant in practice on Saturday.

Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy said before the game he doesn't expect to limit Stone's minutes, though he'll keep an eye on him and make adjustments if necessary, per The Athletic's Jesse Granger.

Stone was in a similar position last year. He sat out the second half of the regular season with a back injury but was able to return for the first game of the postseason.

The veteran forward didn't seem to be hampered by his ailment, recording 11 goals and 24 points in 22 games to help the Golden Knights lift the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history.

"I think last year I had more of a distinct timeline," Stone said Monday. "This year, I wasn't super confident that I'd be standing here today ready to go. The timeline was a lot more - not delicate, but I guess longer. I had some people tell me it was eight weeks, some people tell me it was six months. It was just a wait-and-see, see how the scans go."

Stone and his $9.5-million cap hit were on long-term injured reserve the past two deadlines, giving general manager Kelly McCrimmon more room to bolster his squad.

In 2023, the Golden Knights added forwards Ivan Barbashev and Teddy Blueger, as well as goaltender Jonathan Quick. This season, Vegas brought in winger Anthony Mantha, forward Tomas Hertl, and rearguard Noah Hanifin.

McCrimmon said in March that it was "ridiculous to suggest" the Golden Knights are exploiting the league's LTIR system.

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