MacKinnon Sets Franchise Record For Points In A Season

Nathan MacKinnon has done what Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg couldn’t do.

Imagine saying that six or seven years ago.

With two assists in the first period on Thursday night, MacKinnon hit 140 points on the season. Why is that number significant? It tops the previous franchise record of 139, set by Peter Stastny way back in 1981-82 with the Quebec Nordiques.

That’s a record that stood for 42 years, and the two Hockey Hall of Fame members listed above never came close to breaking it. That goes to show you how special a season MacKinnon has had for the Colorado Avalanche.

It’s highly unlikely he catches Nikita Kucherov for the league lead in scoring, but never say never. The Oilers aren’t exactly dressing the best lineup, as they’ve scratched the likes of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Mattias Ekholm, just to name a few. Colorado dropped four goals on them in period one, and there’s still plenty of game left to be played.

MacKinnon leads the league in even strength points, and is having the most prolific scoring season at even strength the NHL has seen since 1995-96, when Jaromir Jagr put up 95 even strength points. MacKinnon currently has 92. Certainly nothing to sneeze at.

The 28 year old superstar and his team will head to Winnipeg to take on the Jets in game one on Sunday. That game starts at 5 PM MST.

And in two months, he might have a Hart Trophy to add to his trophy case.