DENVER (AP) — Defenseman Erik Johnson announced his retirement Wednesday after a 17-season career that was highlighted by a 2022 Stanley Cup title with the Colorado Avalanche.
Picked No. 1 in the 2006 NHL draft by St. Louis, Johnson was traded to the Avalanche as part of a blockbuster deal in 2011. He played in 1,023 regular-season games with the Blues, Avalanche, Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers.
He finished with 95 goals, 253 assists, 1,717 blocks and 1,695 hits. Johnson missed the 2008-09 season with the Blues after suffering a serious knee injury in a golf cart accident when his foot got stuck under the accelerator pedal.
“After 18 incredible years in the NHL, I am retiring with a heart full of gratitude,” Johnson said in a statement.
The 37-year-old Johnson has long been a fan favorite in Denver, where he spent 14 of his 17 seasons. His most iconic moment, though, may have taken place away from the ice. He led the crowd in the singing of “All the Small Things,” by Blink-182 after the parade to celebrate Colorado hoisting the Stanley Cup. It was the theme song that season.
In his statement, he thanked organizations, teammates, coaches, staff members, family, friends and, of course, the fans.
“Your passion made every moment unforgettable,” Johnson said.
After spending portions of 14 seasons in Colorado — 2011 to 2022-23, along with a return late last season — Johnson trails only Adam Foote (17) for most seasons among Avalanche/Nordiques blueliners. His 731 regular-season games in an Avalanche sweater are also second only to Foote (967) among the franchise’s defensemen.
The player known as “EJ” is first in franchise history in blocked shots (1,373) and third in hits (1,288) among defensemen. The Bloomington, Minnesota, product leaves the NHL rink 25th on the most games played list among American-born defenseman in league history.
His first NHL game was with St. Louis on Oct. 4, 2007, against the then-Phoenix Coyotes. He had an assist on a goal by Keith Tkachuk.
His last regular-season game was with Colorado on April 13 at Anaheim. He scored an empty-net goal. Johnson also played in two games in the first-round series against Dallas, where the Avalanche lost in seven.
“Hockey has been my life, and I’m grateful for every second,” Johnson said. “I’m excited for what’s next and will always cherish this journey.”
For 54 minutes Wednesday night, the severely shorthanded Colorado Avalanche played about as well as expected, considering the circumstances.
That, however, came after the first six minutes went about as poorly as someone could imagine. The big guns on the Tampa Bay Lightning had a huge night, and the Avs’ pushback was met by one of the best goalies in the world in a 5-2 loss at Ball Arena.
Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel combined for three goals and seven points for the Lightning. After allowing three goals on the first five shots, new Colorado goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen did find his way and finished with 16 saves.
“Against teams like that with that high-end skill, you expect them to make those plays, but it’s still not easy to make the saves on those plays,” Kahkonen said. “Especially early like that. But it’s … what are you going to do? You just play. You try to stop the next puck and you try to get into a rhythm.”
The Avs have been without Artturi Lehkonen (shoulder), Valeri Nichushkin (suspension) and Gabe Landeskog (knee) all season and Jonathan Drouin (upper body) joined them after getting hurt in the opener against Vegas. The situation got worse for Colorado before this game.
Ross Colton is out 6-to-8 weeks with a broken foot after blocking a shot Monday night against Chicago, Avs coach Jared Bednar said Wednesday morning. Miles Wood is also out for 7-to-10 days with an upper-body injury that he’s been trying to play through.
“Our (missing) payroll is outrageous,” Nathan MacKinnon said. It’s not excuses. It’s just facts. I do like how we’re playing overall. When guys come back, I feel like if just keep with this, we’ll have better results, but that’s not the point right now.”
While there were some positives to build from for a team missing six of its top-10 forwards, the Avs were down 3-0 before the first TV timeout.
Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper gets an assist on each of the first two Lightning goals. Both times, the play began with his third line against Colorado’s makeshift third line, which included defenseman Oliver Kylington.
The Lightning gained control of the puck and made an on-the-fly change to its top line, and then quickly scored in similar fashion. Point took the puck behind the Colorado net and found Kucherov wide open in the slot for a one-timer 61 seconds in.
Kucherov collected the puck behind his own net at the start of his next shift and went coast-to-coast. He went behind the net like Point did, but sent a reverse pass back to where he came from. Guentzel was waiting near the right post for an easy one at 3:36 for a 2-0 lead.
“It’s awareness mistakes,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “Young players just not reading it quick enough and not getting in quite the right spots.
“Overall, I thought we were engaged in the game. We played pretty hard, played pretty well. Definitely had a better second than the first, and the third was pretty good again. It didn’t come easy for us on the offensive side of it, either.”
Sam Malinski fell near the offensive blue line and tried to swipe at the puck, but the end result was a 3-on-1 the other way and a highlight-reel goal for Tampa Bay. Conor Geekie started the passing play and then finished it at 5:32 of the first after all three forwards touched the puck in quick succession.
The Avs did settle into the game after the opening flurry. Ivan Ivan scored his second career goal to cut Tampa Bay’s lead to 3-1 at at 14:56 of the first.
Ivan tipped a point shot from Cale Makar past Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy from the high slot. He has been the replacement for Ross Colton in that spot, and both of his goals have come with PP1.
Colorado’s first six minutes of the second period went very well, except the Avs couldn’t beat Vasilevskiy. Then, with a jumbled Avs line on the ice after a Colorado power play ended, Tampa Bay’s big guns feasted again.
Point got by Josh Manson in the neutral zone, which led to a 2-on-1. The first shot from Point hit the left post, but caromed right to Guentzel for a tap-in and a 4-1 lead at 6:28 of the second.
Matt Stienburg drew a penalty with a big hit early in the second, but he drew an early end to his night later in the period. He launched himself into Tampa Bay defenseman Erik Cernak and was assessed a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct.
While the Avs did threaten, including a Makar goal midway through the third period, Vasilevskiy also made sure there would be no miracle comeback.
“We had a big meeting today and (Bednar) wanted a good process,” MacKinnon said. “We did that, but it would be nice to have some shooting luck eventually. I think we were pretty cold (tonight).”
FOOTNOTES: Bednar said the Avs are shooting for Lehkonen to make his season debut Tuesday against Seattle. He also said Drouin has taken some controlled contact, but is still sore and remains day-to-day with an unclearl timeline for a return.
DENVER (AP) — Ryan Donato scored twice, including an empty-netter with 57.8 seconds remaining, and the Chicago Blackhawks snapped a four-game skid with a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.
Philipp Kurashev, Lukas Reichel and Donato had goals as the Blackhawks led 3-2 after the first period. Donato and Ilya Mikheyev added empty-net goals in the final minute.
The Avalanche were playing on the second night of a back-to-back at home and didn’t have their usual zip down the ice early. Once they found their stride they were bottled up by Petr Mrazek, who stopped 24 shots.
Casey Mittelstadt and Nathan MacKinnon scored for an Avalanche team that saw their five-game winning streak halted.
SAN JOSE — The high-flying, supercharged Colorado Avalanche did not show up Sunday at SAP Center, but Justus Annunen made sure that version of the club wasn’t needed.
Annunen made 25 saves, including a few key ones while the Avs were clearly on the back foot, and Colorado defeated a plucky San Jose Sharks outfit, 4-1. Given the roster limitations — Colorado was again without five of its 10 best players — the Avs need to scratch out as many points as possible.
“It was huge to get a solid goaltending performance,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “Wasn’t a lot of work but he made key saves at key times. We did a nice job of blocking shots in front of him. He looked solid in there. He looked big in there.
“He lets the one squeak through him on the power play, and from then on he looked better and better as the game went on.”
After beginning the season with four straight losses, the Avalanche has now won back-to-back contests. Colorado’s next four contests are all against teams that, like Anaheim two nights ago and San Jose, did not make the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Ross Colton scored twice early, then Joel Kiviranta provided a critical insurance goal early in the third period after the Sharks controlled play at times in the middle of this penalty-filled affair. Cale Makar added an empty-net goal as part of a three-point night.
Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen combined for six points in this game. They have 34 in six games — Makar has 12, which is tied for the NHL lead, while MacKinnon and Rantanen have 11 each.
“It’s been huge to have them going, because the bulk of our offense is coming from those guys as we’d expect it to, at this point,” Bednar said. “It’s a lot of pressure on them. We talked a little about making sure we’re still focusing on the defense side of it, which they really have in the last (few) games. It’s really paid off, and everyone else is sort of following suit and doing what they can.”
The first period went exactly as the Avs might have planned, save for the final couple of minutes. Colton gave Colorado a 2-0 lead with his fifth and sixth goals of the season.
Colton’s first game at 6:23 on the power play. He’s become a fixture in the bumper spot for the top power-play unit with Jonathan Drouin, Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen not available. MacKinnon fed him for a one-timer in the slot. Colton’s first five goals of the season came on one-timers.
He did not need a one-timer to make it a two-goal advantage. Rantanen feathered a perfect pass to Colton as he got behind the San Jose defense for a goal at 16:37 of the period.
“(Colton) plays hard. He plays with the edge,” Rantanen said. “On the power play, he’s good in little spots, good at finishing plays like we’ve seen this year. (Jonathan Drouin) is obviously a big part of the power play, but (Colton) has been stepping up.”
Josh Manson took exception to a hit on John Ludvig and ended up with two roughing penalties instead of a fighting major. The Sharks scored 18 seconds into the power play when William Eklund was left open to the left of Annunen and roofed a shot from in tight with 1:35 left in the period.
The first period might have been one of Colorado’s best of the season to date, but the second was probably the worst outside of the loss against the New York Islanders. The Avs failed to take advantage of a 5-on-3 early in the period, then took four minor penalties themselves.
Annunen stopped all 13 shots he faced to keep it a 2-1 advantage.
This was Annunen’s first start of the season, and it came the day after Kaapo Kahkonen finally joined the club. Colorado claimed Kahkonen on waivers Oct. 11 from the Winnipeg Jets, but it took a week to resolve immigration issues before he could fly to Denver.
Alexandar Georgiev started the first five games of the season, and has improved his play after two duds to start the season. Annunen replaced him in both of those games, but quickly yielded a pair of goals in each of them, and entered this contest with a .765 save percentage (13 saves on 17 shots).
“I thought he looked really calmed,” Rantanen said of his fellow Finn in net. “It’s probably easier mentally, I’ve never been a goalie, than being put in mid-game when we are down and pushing. Now he got the start and I’m happy for him. He played well.”
DENVER (AP) — Logan O’Connor and the Colorado Avalanche agreed to a six-year extension that will keep him with the organization through the 2030-31 season.
The 28-year-old forward is coming off an injury-marred season that ended early with him undergoing hip surgery in March. Despite playing just 57 games, he had a career-high 13 goals.
O’Connor was a part of the Avalanche team that won the Stanley Cup in 2022. Before turning professional, O’Connor played three seasons for the University of Denver, winning an NCAA championship in 2016-17.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon was the big winner at Thursday’s NHL awards show, taking home the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s MVP and the Ted Lindsay Award as the league’s most outstanding player as decided by the NHL Players Association.
Three other major awards where handed out earlier Thursday.
Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard was selected as the league’s top rookie, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy. Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets won the Vezina Trophy as the top goalie, and Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks was named winner of the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the top defenseman.
MacKinnon had a career-high 140 points this season to win both awards for the first time. He opened the season with a 35-game point streak at home, second all-time only to Wayne Gretzky
MacKinnon finished the season with 54 goals and 89 assists.
He beat out Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers for the Hart and Kucherov and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the Lindsay.
Bedard, one of the most-hyped prospects in recent years, was last year’s No. 1 overall draft pick by the Blackhawks and led all rookies with 61 points. He also was first with 22 goals and his 39 assists tied for the lead as well.
Brock Faber of the Minnesota Wild and Luke Hughes of the New Jersey Devils were the other contenders.
Hellebuyck, who also won the Vezina in 2020, allowed 2.39 goals were per game, had a .921 save percentage and recorded five shutouts. Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers and Thatcher Demko of the Vancouver Canucks were the other finalists.
Hughes, won the Norris Trophy for the first time, led all defenseman with 92 points and 75 assists. He also scored 17 goals. Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators and Cale Makar of the Avalanche were the other contenders.
Awards announced earlier include:
— Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov won the Selke Trophy as the top defensive forward for the second time in four years.
— Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, awarded for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct. He also won it in 2021.
— Rick Tocchet received the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year. He led the Vancouver Canucks to the Pacific Division title.
— Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill was named the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award winner.
Dallas can close it out at home in Game 5 on Wednesday.
Miro Heiskanen and Evgenii Dadonov also scored, while Sam Steel added an empty-net goal. Jake Oettinger made 24 saves.
Before the game, the National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players’ Association announced that Nichushkin was suspended for at least six months without pay.
Stars centers Tyler Seguin and Logan Stankoven scored two goals apiece and Dallas pulled away from the Colorado Avalanche in the third period for a 4-1 win in Game 3 of their Western Conference Round 2 series.
Evgenii Dadonov found Seguin with a beautiful cross for a fast break goal in the 16th minute of the second period for what would be the difference-making goal. Seguin and Stankoven added empty-net goals in the final minutes to pad the lead.
Stankoven scored the first goal of the game with less than 90 seconds to play in the first period. His goals were the first two playoff goals of his career.
Mikko Rantanen collected a rebound and found the net from point-blank range with 10:24 left in the second period for the Avalanche’s only goal of the night.
The Avalanche outshot the Stars 12-5 in the first period, including a Nathan MacKinnon shot with five minutes left in the period that snuck through the legs of Stars goalie Jake Oettinger and came within inches of crossing the red line before Stars defenseman Ryan Suter poked it back to Oettinger’s grasp.
Game 4 is Monday at Ball Arena, where the Avs posted the best home record in the regular season. Dallas was the NHL’s best team on the road.
Avalanche vs. Stars series schedule:
Game 4: Dallas at Colorado | Monday, May 13 | TBD | ESPN
Game 5: Colorado at Dallas | Wednesday, May 15 | TBD | TBD
Game 6*: Dallas at Colorado | Friday, May 17 | TBD | TBD
Game 7*: Colorado at Dallas | Sunday, May 19 | TBD | TBD
Benn launched. He left his feet. Toews’ head snapped like a crash test dummy. Officials declared it a shoulder-on-shoulder crime and suggested we all move on. To paraphrase my best pal Deion Sanders, that’s some bull junk, right there.
For one, even if the Stars winger was aiming for Toews’ shoulder, at least one angle showed him connecting directly with No. 7’s neck. Which, last I checked, is connected to and immediately south of the head.
“I mean, does he catch a piece of his shoulder? Yeah, I guess you could argue that,” Avs coach Jared Bednar, whose team returns to Denver after a road split at American Airlines Center, replied when I asked about the collision. “But the target is high and it’s at his head, and he makes contact with the head. And I’ve seen, many times, guys get called for the head shot and penalty with a lot less than that. But I guess they didn’t think so.”
Two, Benn knew exactly what he was doing. The Stars knew what he was doing. Dallas coach Pete DeBoer, whose Vegas teams delighted in pushing the Avs around in the postseason, knew darn well.
“Benner has been outstanding in this playoff. I thought against Vegas he did and he did (it) smart,” the Stars boss said late Thursday night. “He did it at the right times and he did it clean. But his presence physically is having an impact for us in these playoffs in a real positive way.’’
In the NFL, Benn’s shot is an ejection, a fine, a suspension and a chat with the safety cops.
In the NHL, it’s a “real positive” presence, a strategic wrinkle in a no-holds-barred, merciless bracket.
The refs decided the hit was at Toews’ shoulder blade and not a head shot. Some slo-mo angles showed otherwise, especially as the D-man pinged off another Dallas player like a rag dol. By the letter of the law, it looked (makes air quotes) “clean.”
But barely legal is still barely.
“It is what it is,” Bednar said. “You’ve got to play through it.”
Once a bully knows they can get away with murder in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there’s only way to stop a killing spree.
Someone’s gotta pick up the Captain’s spine. Someone’s gotta let Benn know that this won’t stand. And neither will he.
Someone’s gotta pick up Landy’s steel. Landy’s soul.
It’s not in Nathan MacKinnon’s game, bless him. It’s not in Cale Makar’s DNA, although a reactive shove after Toews got clocked landed him in an awkward headlock for a few seconds.
“Hopefully there was no intent into the head,” Avs forward Andrew Cogliano said of the Benn ambush.
Then, instead of walking it back, Cogs walked it forward.
“Maybe there was, obviously, a little bit to the head,” Cogliano added. “But, yeah, I don’t know.”
He knew. Everybody did.
“It’s a physical game this time of year,” Bednar said, “but I just can’t understand how that was not a penalty. Even if it isn’t a five (minute major).”
Join the club. Fortunately, Toews returned to the ice, but Benn needs a break. And a lesson. If the league won’t do it, somebody in burgundy and blue needs to apply a little elbow grease.
DALLAS (AP) — Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen scored two power-play goals, Roope Hintz had a goal and three assists and the Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 in Game 2 on Thursday night to even the second-round Western Conference series.
Tyler Seguin got his first goal this postseason on a short-hander at the end of a 3-on-1 breakaway for the Stars that put them up 4-0 late in the second period. Esa Lindell added an empty-netter with 20 seconds left.
Jake Oettinger had 28 saves for Dallas.
Joel Kiviranta, Andrew Cogliano and Brandon Duhaime scored in the third period for the Avalanche
A trip to the NHL’s Western Conference Semifinals – and now a pair of belt buckles – are on the line in the Colorado Avalanche’s second-round series against the Dallas Stars.
Ahead of Game 1, being played Tuesday night in Dallas, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson agreed to a friendly wager on the series.
If the Avs win the series, Johnson says he will send a “Texas style” belt buckle to Johnston in Denver. Should the Stars win, Johnston would send a Denver-themed belt buckle to Dallas.
This is at least the second time the Dallas mayor has wagered a belt buckle on a sporting event. Before a boxing match between Dallas native Errol Spence Jr. and Omaha native Terence Crawford last summer, Johnson bet a belt buckle on Spence. Omaha mayor Jean Stothert wagered a set of Omaha steaks. Spence lost the fight, and Johnson lost the bet.
Belt buckles (and cowboy boots) are part of Johnston’s regular get-up. He has been seen wearing the belt buckle he wagered Tuesday – a blue and red design with chrome mountains and sun. For instance, this photo captured by the Associated Press at a celebration in honor of Denver Broncos legend Randy Gradishar’s induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame:
David Zalubowski/AP
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston looks on before Denver Broncos Ring of Fame linebacker Randy Gradishar speaks during a celebration outside the State Capitol to mark his inclusion in the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024 Friday, May 3, 2024, in Denver. Gradishar, who was part of the Broncos’ “Orange Crush” defense of the 1970s and 1980s, will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame in August in Canton, O. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
The Colorado Avalanche will play the Dallas Stars in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after Dallas beat the defending-champion Vegas Golden Knights in Game 7 of their first-round series Sunday night.
Game 1 of the series is Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. MT in Dallas.
The Avs last played April 30, when they beat the Winnipeg Jets in Game 5 of their opening-round series to advance.
Colorado and Dallas have squared off several times in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since the franchises relocated in the 1990s. Most recently, the Stars beat the Avs in seven games in the second round of the 2020 postseason.
The Avs beat the Stars in five games in back-to-back seasons in 2004 and 2006 (the 2004-05 season was canceled due to a lockout) and Dallas beat Colorado in seven games in back-to-back Western Conference Finals in 1999 and 2000. The Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1999.
The two teams have faced off a total of 156 times, dating back to their days as the Quebec Nordiques (Avs) and Minnesota North Stars (Stars), according to Hockey Reference.
Here is the schedule for the 2024 Western Conference Round 2 series:
Game 1: Colorado at Dallas | Tuesday, May 7 | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN
Game 2: Colorado at Dallas | Thursday, May 9 | 7:30 p.m. | TNT, truTV
Game 3: Dallas at Colorado | Saturday, May 11 | TBD | TNT, truTV
Game 4: Dallas at Colorado | Monday, May 13 | TBD | ESPN
Game 5*: Colorado at Dallas | Wednesday, May 15 | TBD | TBD
Game 6*: Dallas at Colorado | Friday, May 17 | TBD | TBD
Game 7*: Colorado at Dallas | Sunday, May 19 | TBD | TBD
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Mikko Rantanen scored his first two goals of the playoffs in the third period, leading the Colorado Avalanche to a 6-3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets that clinched their opening-round playoff series in five games.
Rantanen, who had an assist, scored twice in a span of just under four minutes early in the third period to snap a 3-3 tie. Valeri Nichushkin, Yakov Trenin, Artturi Lehkonen and Josh Manson also scored for the Avalanche, who will play the winner of the series between Dallas and Vegas.
Kyle Connor, Josh Morrissey and Tyler Toffoli scored for the Jets.
DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon and Valeri Nichushkin scored on the power play during a five-goal, third-period outburst and the Colorado Avalanche rallied for a 6-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 3.
Alexandar Georgiev stopped 22 shots to give the Avalanche a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Trailing 2-1 in the final period, Colorado, the highest-scoring team in the league, began pouring it on. The Avalanche scored four times in a 10:24 span to energize the crowd.
DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon notched his seventh career hat trick as part of a four-point performance, and the Colorado Avalanche broke out of a two-game funk with a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild.
Artturi Lehkonen and Cale Makar also scored for the Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 20 shots in a bounce-back performance after allowing 12 goals in his previous two games.
The win kept Colorado in second place in the Central Division with 104 points. The team trails Dallas by five points with three games left.
Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy had goals for a Wild team that was officially eliminated from the postseason.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A couple of guys with Minnesota ties were making their first appearances at Xcel Energy Center in a Colorado Avalanche uniform. One State of Hockey great might have been making his last.
But it was the two Halifax Mooseheads who added another chapter to an incredible season and helped the Avalanche collect a much-needed win Thursday night against the Minnesota Wild to try and keep pace with the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars.
Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin had three points each to help the Avs fend off the pesky Wild in a 5-2 victory. The win moved Colorado to within three points of the Stars. Both teams have six games to play.
“The most comfortable I’ve felt (is) the past couple weeks, especially playing with those guys,” Drouin said of Colorado’s top line. “I feel like I’m in the right spot. I’m not nervous. I’m not overwhelmed by it. I’m excited to play with those guys.”
MacKinnon’s goal 6:32 into the third period gave the Avalanche some much-needed breathing room after the home side had been pushing for an equalizer. Cale Makar checked the puck away from Minnesota’s Joel Eriksson Ek in the high slot, and then MacKinnon and Drouin went to work.
MacKinnon sent the puck to Drouin, who returned the favor with a great pass to set him free for a shot back to the left as Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson got caught leaning too far the other way. It was MacKinnon’s 48th goal of the year. Mikko Rantanen added an empty-net goal to end any doubt.
“(Drouin) is making really nice plays,” Rantanen said. “You can tell his confidence has been going (up) all year, so it’s great. It’s important. He’s playing well at the most important of the time of the year.”
Drouin’s first goal gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead. Colorado caught a break when a tripping penalty was called on Kirill Kaprizov but a simultaneous trip of Eriksson Ek was not adjudicated. The Avs wasted little time. Drouin batted the rebound of a Makar shot from the top of the zone into the net for his 16th goal of the season.
He added No. 17 just 43 seconds into the second period. Rantanen made a great play to get the play started in the offensive zone, and eventually Drouin tipped a blast from the top of the zone by MacKinnon past Gustavsson to give the Avs a 3-1 lead.
“We didn’t talk about it yet, so I don’t know if it was on purpose or not,” Drouin said. “With him, I usually think it’s on purpose. I just try to get around my defender for two or three seconds and that puck was right on my stick.”
At that point, it felt like Colorado was in control. The Wild clawed back, controlling large portions of the second period and creating lots of quality chances. Declan Chisholm made it a 3-2 score midway through the period with a power-play goal.
The shots were 18-8 in the middle frame, but Justus Annunen made several quality saves. Drouin also made the defensive play of the game in the first minute of the third period.
Matt Boldy pressured Annunen behind the net and the puck squirted out in front of an empty cage. Marcus Johansson had the angle to get to it, but Drouin lifted his stick instead of lunging for the puck and erased the danger.
Avs coach Jared Bednar said Annunen, who finished with 44 saves, had a slow start but was exceptional after the second goal.
“A couple of times I’ve noticed with him, his mental strength is pretty good,” Rantanen said. “He lets up an early goal sometimes, like today, but then he just shuts you down almost for the rest of the game. The way he’s poised in the net, I really enjoy playing in front of him.”
Artturi Lehkonen put the Avalanche on the board first. Minnesota native Casey Mittelstadt won a faceoff in the Wild zone, and Lehkonen was able to score on his second try after collecting the rebound of a Jack Johnson point shot 4:34 into the opening period.
The Wild responded less than four minutes later when Vinni Lettieri’s one-timer from the right point beat Annunen off the far post to even the score at 1-1.
This game was the first one back for former Wild glue guy Brandon Duhaime after the Avs acquired him before the trade deadline, and he received a warm welcome. It also might have been the final one at The X for Zach Parise, a Minneapolis native who played nine seasons for the Wild.
DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and two assists,, Yakov Trenin got the go-ahead goal against his former team, and the Colorado Avalanche rallied to beat the penalty-prone Nashville Predators 7-4 to clinch a playoff spot.
Cale Makar had a goal and two assists, Jonathan Drouin added a goal and an assist, and Casey Mittelstadt and Artturi Lehkonen also scored for Colorado.
Alexandar Georgiev allowed four goals on 13 shots before he was pulled less than a minute into the second period.
Justus Annunen came on and stopped all 17 shots he faced. Cole Smith, Mark Jankowski, Dante Fabbro, and Gustav Nyquist had goals for Nashville, which lost for a second time since seeing its franchise record 18-game point streak snapped in Thursday’s 8-4 loss at Arizona.
The only drama left in the final period Friday night at Ball Arena was whether Nathan MacKinnon could continue his pursuit of NHL history and extend his home scoring streak to 33 games.
MacKinnon took care of it with 13:59 to spare, then added another on a surgical power-play goal barely more than a minute later to help the Colorado Avalanche crush the Columbus Blue Jackets, 6-1. It was Colorado’s eighth straight victory, and moved the Avalanche to the top of the Central Division with 95 points.
“The streak is a result of all the hard work and dedication that he brings to the game on a nightly basis,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “There’s not a guy on that bench that didn’t know he hadn’t had a point yet, and when he got it everyone was pretty happy. You can see he wants it. He was a little ornery on the bench when he hadn’t got a point yet. That’s the pressure he puts on himself.”
Cale Makar casually broke up a 2-on-2 rush for the Blue Jackets and set MacKinnon loose on a breakaway. MacKinnon had seven shots on goal before this, but didn’t miss with No. 8 and set a new career high with 43 goals in a season. Toss in the primary assist on Mikko Rantanen’s second goal of the night 73 seconds later, and MacKinnon has 119 points, one shy of Joe Sakic’s Denver-based record.
The overall franchise record, 139 for Peter Stastny in 1981-82, remains very much in play. MacKinnon’s home scoring streak is now tied with one Wayne Gretzky run for the second-longest in league history. He’s chasing Gretzky’s 1988-89 season, when he had a point in all 40 home games.
Makar had Colorado’s first goal after a nifty rush sequence. Jonathan Drouin gained the offensive zone and left a drop pass for Artturi Lehkonen. He immediately found Makar in some open space near the right circle for his 18th goal of the season. That ties Nashville’s Roman Josi for the league lead among defensemen and left him three points shy of Quinn Hughes for tops in that category.
Jared Bednar reunited Ross Colton and Miles Wood on the team’s third line along with Zach Parise, and that trio created the second goal. Parise pulled up along the right wing, saw his linemates both loitering near the net and sent the puck in that direction. Both guys were there hunting for the rebound, and Colton shoveled it across the line for his 15th of the season.
“I feel like they should be playing together,” Bednar said. “They get along off the ice. We’ve seen them play some great stretches of games. … I know that they have it in them. They just had to work through some issues. Great conscious on the defensive side tonight, physical, went to the net hard, drew penalties, banged in a rebound goal. I liked that line a lot tonight.”
Bednar did some in-game tinkering as well, flipping MacKinnon and Casey Mittelstadt’s on the top two lines. Rantanen scored on Mittelstadt’s first shift with him and Valeri Nichushkin, deflecting a point shot from Josh Manson past Columbus goaltender Elvis Merzlikins.
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar (8) handles the puck against Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Jake Bean (22) in the first period at Ball Arena in Denver on Friday, March 22, 2024. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Rantanen now has eight goals in his past five games, and is ninth in the league with 39 this season. Nichushkin added one in the third period to give that line two goals in as many periods. It was his 26th of the season, which is also a new personal best.
“They make the game easy,” Mittelstadt said of playing with Rantanen and Nichushkin. “There’s so many good players here. I feel like I’m just trying to fit in and make plays. I think if you stay within the system, the puck follows you around a little bit. They can both make plays and are elite players so it was a blast.”
Damon Severson put the Blue Jackets ahead early in the first period. Johnny Gaudreau sent the puck from along the boards on the right wing to near the far post and Severson was there to redirect it home. That was the high water mark for the visitors.
At one point the shots 5-4 in favor of Colorado, but the Avalanche had 19 of the next 20 and surged ahead in the process. The second period was 20 minutes without a penalty on either team, and Colorado flexed its proverbial muscles with its new-look roster.
The final carnage was two goals, a 23-7 advantage in shots on goal and a 19-4 advantage in scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick.
“Spending a lot of time in their zone and I’m kind of waiting for something to happen,” said Avs goalie Alexandar Georgiev, who made 23 saves but only faced 12 shots in the first 40 minutes. “It’s 3-1 heading into the third. We were pretty happy with that. We knew they were going to make a push. We tried to play smart and score the next goal. We did that. It was a great job by the guys.”
The Avalanche made two significant trades Wednesday morning to bolster their chances of winning the Stanley Cup this season. Then the guys who are the biggest reason why they can win a second title in three years when out and put on a show against the Detroit Red Wings at Ball Arena.
Cale Makar had his first career hat trick, while he, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen all had four-point games to help the shorthanded Avalanche blow by the Red Wings, 7-2.
General manager Chris MacFarland shook up the roster earlier in the day with a pair of trades. The Avs added a new No. 2 center, Casey Mittelstadt, from the Buffalo Sabres and right-handed defenseman Sean Walker from the Philadelphia Flyers.
Bo Byram went to Buffalo and Ryan Johansen was sent to Philadelphia in the transactions. The new guys didn’t arrive in Denver in time to play and forward Logan O’Connor was unavailable because of an injury.
That left the Avalanche undermanned — Colorado moved Caleb Jones into the lineup for Byram and recalled forwards Jean-Luc Foudy and Ondrej Pavel to fill out the forward corps.
The big guns made sure it wasn’t a problem. MacKinnon became the first player to score 40 goals in back-to-back seasons for the franchise since it moved to Denver from Quebec, while also grabbing sole possession of the NHL scoring lead with 109 points — four more than Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov.
Makar became the fourth defenseman to score a hat trick in franchise history, and the first since Sandis Ozolinsh on Dec. 6, 1999. He now leads all NHL defensemen with 17 goals, and his 70 points is three shy of Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes for the league lead.
Rantanen reached 50 assists for the third consecutive season. He had four assists in this game, plus 16 shot attempts, the second-most he’s had all season.
The Red Wings scored on their first shot of the game less than two minutes in, but both Red Wings goaltenders were under siege for the final 58.
Colorado’s top line and defense pair scored the first five goals for the Avs, before Jonathan Drouin made it 6-2 in the third period with his second tally in as many games. Foudy joined the scoring party with his first career NHL goal at 15:25 of the third, by which point most of the red-clad Red Wings fans in attendance had left the premises.
CHICAGO (AP) — Zach Parise had two goals and an assist, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the lowly Chicago Blackhawks 5-0.
Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist, giving him 100 points in 61 games this season. Ross Colton and Devon Toews also scored, and Justus Annunen made 25 saves in his first career shutout in nine NHL appearances.
The Avalanche improved to 2-1 against the Blackhawks this season. The teams play again on Monday night at Colorado.
