Valeri Nichushkin scored twice, while Nathan MacKinnon contributed two assists, breaking the franchise’s single-season points record as the Colorado Avalanche secured a comfortable 5-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
MacKinnon concluded the regular season with 140 points (51 goals, 89 assists), surpassing Peter Stastny’s franchise record of 139 set in 1981-82 when the team was based in Quebec.
Although MacKinnon fell short in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, which honors the league’s top points scorer, finishing behind Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov who amassed 144 points, he remains a strong contender for the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP alongside Kucherov, Auston Matthews, and Connor McDavid.
“I don’t think one guy is more deserving (than) another guy,” MacKinnon remarked. “It’s out of my hands and I can’t control people who vote for me or don’t like me or like me. It’s all good either way.”
Mikko Rantanen, Josh Manson, and Zach Parise also found the net for the Avalanche, propelling them to an early 4-0 lead in the first period, a lead they maintained throughout the game, despite the Oilers resting several key players, including McDavid.
“Justus Annunen made 25 saves for the Avalanche, who finished with a league-best 31 home wins. Colorado opens the playoffs at Winnipeg on Sunday.”
Dylan Holloway managed a power-play goal for Edmonton. The Oilers will face Los Angeles in the first round of the playoffs after the Kings secured an overtime victory against Chicago, and Vegas suffered a loss to Anaheim later on Thursday.
With key players like McDavid, Mattias Ekholm, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, and Evander Kane absent from the lineup, Edmonton missed nearly 70% of its points production this season.
