Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche will look to extend their respective point streaks on Sunday night when they visit the Vancouver Canucks.
MacKinnon pushed his point streak to eight games after collecting two goals and two assists in Colorado’s 9-1 romp over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
The 2023-24 Hart Trophy recipient as the NHL’s MVP has totaled 14 points (six goals, eight assists) during his point streak.
“It was a good win, obviously,” said MacKinnon, who is tied for the NHL lead in goals (12) with Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield and even with the league’s best point total (24) with San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini.
“We scored opportunistic goals, guys were finishing (on Saturday). I don’t think it wasn’t as dominant as the score looked. We scored when we had looks, so it was a good effort. I don’t want to jinx it, but we’ve been playing really well. We have one regulation loss in 15 games.”
Their 9-1-5 record (23 points) is the best in the NHL.
The Avalanche have won two in a row and improved to 4-0-2 in their past six games.
Offensive-minded defenseman Cale Makar extended his season-opening road point streak to nine games (six goals, eight assists) by joining fellow Alberta native Parker Kelly as well as Jack Drury with two goals on Saturday.
“Really special night to have lots of friends and family here,” Kelly said of the Edmonton game. “Super cool and one I won’t forget.”
Defenseman Devon Toews had three assists to double his season total for the Avalanche, who saw 12 different players dent the scoresheet on Saturday and eight players have at least two points.
“It’s a good confidence builder for our group,” Colorado head coach Jared Bednar said. “We got contributions all the way through our lineup. (The) fourth line got a couple goals. (The) third line got a couple goals. Cale and (MacKinnon) obviously had good nights, too.”
The Canucks also had a good night on Saturday, skating to their fourth win in seven outings with a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Brock Boeser knocked down an attempted stretch pass from Kiefer Sherwood and scored on a partial breakaway with 5:45 remaining in the third period.
“It was nice to see Brock get one,” Canucks forward Jake DeBrusk said of Boeser, who has seven points (four goals, three assists) in his past seven games.
“We needed it. … That’s huge, the timing of it and everything. That’s what he can do. He’s pretty clutch.”
DeBrusk, however, knows the elation of that victory will last only so long, given the high-octane Avalanche are paying a visit.
“We need to build on this, and obviously, really tough task, probably a top team in the league, and for good reason,” DeBrusk said. “So, we’re going to need to bring our best.”
The Canucks have done that in recent encounters with Colorado, posting a 3-1-1 record in their past five meetings.
Boeser has totaled 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in 19 career games against the Avalanche.
