It seems wild to fathom that a player like Nathan MacKinnon who has accomplished so much already had any milestones left to achieve. He’s a Stanley Cup champion, has two 100-point seasons – including the current one – and four others during which he tallied more than or nearly 90 points. Plus that bewildering home point streak this season that lasted almost the entire campaign. Well, on Tuesday night versus the Minnesota Wild, MacKinnon notched his 50th (then his 51st) goal of the season, remarkably a first for him.
His 50th marker happened in the second period with the score 3-2 for the Avs. A clever behind-the-back pass from Jonathan Drouin near centre-ice sent MacKinnon off to the right-hand side where he wristed a beautiful shot past Minnesota netminder Filip Gustavsson.
Related: Avalanche Must Fix Defense and Goaltending Before Playoffs
His previous plateau had been 42, which he achieved just a season ago. The Colorado have a beguiling offense in 2023-24, with the Halifax native leading the way courtesy of 135 points and counting. His 51st came less than five minutes later to make it 5-2 in favour of the Avalanche at the time. Oh, and that 51st goal marked a hat trick on the night for the Colorado star.