10 Takeaways: Avalanche Tie Franchise Record With One Game Remaining

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The Avalanche’s final road trip of the season went about as well as you’d want it to.

They were able to rest several guys, with Artturi Lehkonen, Devon Toews, and Brock Nelson each sitting out a game. They also welcomed back Cale Makar, who recorded three assists in a 3-1 triumph over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.

And they also got quite a few milestones that I’ll get more into below.

The Avs have one more game remaining, as they host the Seattle Kraken at Ball Arena on Thursday. It’s safe to assume that Game 1 of the postseason, against either Los Angeles, Anaheim, or, very unlikely but still possible, Edmonton, will be at Ball Arena on Sunday.

The Denver Nuggets’ NBA Playoffs schedule was released late Tuesday night. Denver hosts the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday and Monday, leaving Sunday as the likeliest option for the Avalanche to begin their Stanley Cup playoffs.

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10 Takeaways

1. First and foremost, Martin Necas reached 100 points in the regular season for the first time in his career. He did it with the secondary assist of an empty-net goal with 17 seconds remaining in what will likely be his final regular-season game.

Everyone wanted it for him. Gabe Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Makar, and Necas all huddled before a defensive zone faceoff to gameplan how to get the puck out of the zone with Necas involved in the play. The celebration afterward showed just how much it mattered.

Kudos to Necas. It was never going to be easy to be the main piece that was acquired for Mikko Rantanen. But he’s doing his part to make that deal look like it could end up being a long-term win for the Avs. Getting 100 points helps make that true.

Necas is just the third Czech-born player to reach the mark, and the ninth in Avalanche history.

2. As for the Avalanche, they have now tied a franchise record with 119 points in a single season. If they collect one or two points on Thursday, they’ll be the best regular-season team in franchise history. The other two teams in the top three — 2000-01 and 2021-22 — both won the Stanley Cup.

3. It was MacKinnon who scored the empty netter that Necas 100 points. MacKinnon has 53 goals and is headed toward his first Rocket Richard Trophy. Cole Caufield ended his season in Montreal with 51 goals. Next on the list is Connor McDavid, who has 48 goals. McDavid would need five goals to catch MacKinnon. The Oilers play Vancouver in their regular-season finale on Thursday.

Assuming MacKinnon wraps this up, he’ll be just the second player in franchise history to lead the league in goals in a single season. Milan Hejduk accomplished the feat in 2002-03 with 50 goals.

4. He didn’t play in Calgary, but Scott Wedgewood got his 30th win of the season in Edmonton on Monday. If he plays and gets another victory on Thursday, he’ll end the season tied for fourth in the league among goalie wins.

5. I don’t imagine it was easy for Nelson to voluntarily sit out a game. Before Tuesday night, his team had played 1,022 games since he began his NHL career in 2013. Nelson dressed in 1,000 of those games, missing just 22 games over 13 years. This was just the 23rd game he had missed and the first that wasn’t because of an injury.

His agent, Ben Hankinson, chimed in on my tweet earlier in the day with a pretty cool note about his client.

6. Makar’s last game was on March 30, when he recorded three assists against the Flames. It’s the same stat line he had in his return. Makar is up to 20 goals and 58 assists in 74 games. If he plays on Thursday and posts two assists, he’d end the year with a very smooth 20, 60, 80 stat line in 75 GP.

7. Going 2-for-2 on the road trip means the Avs boast a league-best 29-7-5 record away from home. The 29 wins match a franchise record from the 2022-23 season (29-11-1). But the 63 points they collected is far and away a franchise best. That’s 77% of the possible points they could’ve gotten in road games.

8. Colorado ends the season 14-1-0 in its last 15 road games, dating back to a 5-0 triumph at Little Caesars Arena against the Detroit Red Wings. The two games before that were consecutive road losses in Ottawa and Montreal.

9. If Mackenzie Blackwood gets the night off on Thursday, he will end the season 23-10-2 with a .904 save percentage and three shutouts.

10. Landeskog recorded his seventh goal in his last 13 games. He had seven goals in his first 47 games before that.

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