DENVER — Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon reached the 1,000-point milestone Monday night, earning a secondary assist on Artturi Lehkonen’s goal early in the third period against Chicago.
MacKinnon dropped the puck off for Devon Toews at the blue line, and Toews’ shot was deflected in by Lehkonen, breaking a scoreless tie 31 seconds into the third. MacKinnon’s teammates came off the bench to celebrate the moment with the 29-year-old center, who is the NHL’s reigning MVP.
MacKinnon added an assist on Martin Necas’ goal about 3 minutes later. He nearly reached the milestone much earlier in the game. He appeared to have produced a first-period assist — players streamed off the bench to celebrate that one as well — but an offside challenge wiped out that goal by Necas, knocking MacKinnon back to 999 points.
When he did finally reach 1,000, MacKinnon became the 100th player to do so. He’s the third in franchise history, joining Hall of Famers Joe Sakic and Peter Stastny.
MacKinnon was the top pick in the 2013 draft and is first player from that class to reach 1,000 points.
Fans had reason to feel confident they’d see history Monday. It was MacKinnon’s 20th straight home game with at least one point.
MacKinnon won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player in 2023-24 after recording 51 goals and 89 assists.
-With files from Sportsnet Staff
