DENVER — Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck will likely win the Vezina Trophy. And, admittedly, he was fourth place on my Hart Trophy ballot. But the NHL’s top regular-season goalie, who backstops the league’s stingiest defense, has been outmatched by the Avalanche’s offensive domination.

Having already surrendered 15 goals in three games, Hellebuyck didn’t even finish Sunday’s Game 4 loss to the Avs. He was pulled in the second period after allowing four goals on 30 shots. Colorado eventually won 5-1, pushing Winnipeg to the brink of elimination by taking a 3-1 series lead.

“Giving him a break,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said, explaining why he decided to pull Hellebuyck. “Just too much time in there having to make save after save. That’s not on him whatsoever. That’s on the players in front of him.”

Bowness is right. Hellebuyck can’t be entirely to blame. Winnipeg built a reputation for stymieing some of the best offenses in the league for 82 games. And that hasn’t happened in the playoffs. Colorado, which led the league in regular-season goals, only scored four in three games against the Jets before this series began.

But then playoff Valeri Nichushkin arrived.

After scoring a goal in each of the first three games, the Avalanche’s top-line winger recorded his first career hat trick, capping off an impressive performance with an empty-net goal in the final seconds.

“You want your top guys feeling good and you want them in situations where they can pick up points and score goals,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “And for tonight, like with Val, he’s got two, he’s gonna stay out there because he’s such a trusted player.”

Nichushkin was a catalyst for the Avs’ 2022 Stanley Cup championship. The team missed him after he disappeared from a hotel in Seattle 12 months ago. But Nichushkin, who had a two-month hiatus in the NHLPA Player Assistance Program earlier this season, is feeling better.

And it’s paying off on the ice.

“He’s doing great. He really is,” Bednar said of Nichushkin, who rejected a post-game interview. “You want guys to be in good mental health and taking care of themselves and he’s doing that.”

Nichushkin’s six goals lead the team. But trailing closely behind is Artturi Lehkonen. The Avs’ forgotten piece of the top-six has been on fire throughout the series. Does he get enough credit for his contributions? The coach doesn’t believe he does — referencing “All the Small Things” Lehkonen does so well.

“That’s an easy one. That’s no. He does not,” Bednar said. “If you really watch and dissect video and look at how many plays Lehky makes on any given night on the offensive side, on the defensive side, he doesn’t get anywhere near enough credit for what he does for our team.

“This guy’s a relentless worker, this guy’s a warrior.”

The duo of Nichushkin and Lehkonen are riding four-game goal-scoring streaks as the latter scored the game’s first goal. Cale Makar scored the other goal to give the Avs their third straight victory.

So far Winnipeg’s defense has been outmatched. And their offense has been completely shut down following Game 1’s victory. Even then, Winnipeg only mustered 23 shots but was able to beat Avs goalie Alexandar Georgiev seven times.

The Jets are lucky to have even won one of the first four games.

“It helps a lot when we are playing so well, spending so much time in the O-zone,” Georgiev said. “Less chances for me to need to make that big save. Just staying sharp and when they come up with a good opportunity, just try to be sharp and be there.”

Perhaps the most promising takeaway from this series is where the scoring is coming from. Last year, Colorado had 19 goals in seven games against the Seattle Kraken. And each of the goals was scored by the first line and top defense pairing. But the goals are coming from all over the place this time around — 22 of them, to be exact.

Nichushkin and Lehkonen have combined for 10. But the other 12 have been scored by Nathan MacKinnon (2), Makar (2), Zach Parise (2), Miles Wood (2), Casey Mittelstadt (1), Devon Toews (1), Josh Manson (1) and Ross Colton (1).

Mikko Rantanen hasn’t scored yet. MacKinnon hasn’t taken the team on his back and erupted offensively yet. And Jonathan Drouin, who is out for at least the first round, hasn’t even dressed in the postseason. That’s Colorado’s preferred top line.

Things are looking up.

The offense is clicking. But the defense? Well, they’ve figured it out too. Georgiev has only five goals against since Game 1. That’s as many goals as Nichushkin has scored since the high-scoring opener.