Nathan MacKinnon ties Joe Sakic for Avalanche franchise record

The Colorado Avalanche have had an up-and-down season this year, leading them to flip a lot of key pieces over on the roster at the trade deadline. Now, the Avalanche head into the playoffs with their core of superstars and improved depth behind them in hopes that is enough to make a push for another Stanley Cup.

The Avalanche aren’t playing for much in the final few games of the season, as they have the No. 3 seed in the Central Division locked up. It looks very likely that Colorado will take on the Dallas Stars in the first round, but it’s still battling to find its best hockey heading into the playoffs.

On Tuesday night, the Avalanche took a step in the right direction. Playing in front of a raucous home crowd, the Avs knocked off the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in a shootout. Nathan MacKinnon assisted on the first goal of the night, a power play score by Valeri Nichushkin.

With that assist, MacKinnon tied franchise legend Joe Sakic for the most points in Avalanche history, according to VP of media and player relations for the Avalanche Brendan McNicholas.

“MacKinnon extends home point streak to 26 games,” McNicholas wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Ties Joe Sakic for most points in an
@Avalanche sweater (since relocating). Both players with 1,015 points in exactly 870 games.”

The record doesn’t include the franchise’s time as the Quebec Nordiques, but it is still mightily impressive nonetheless.

MacKinnon is having another stellar season this year as he leads the avalanche into another playoff run. He has played in 78 games this year and has scored 115 points, which is currently tied for the league lead with Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning. MacKinnon leads the league with 83 assists and has also added 32 goals to go with it.

MacKinnon is sure to keep racking up the points as the Avalanche get into the playoffs and chase another deep postseason run. As long as he’s anchoring the first line, playing against Colorado is a scary proposition for any team.