Cole Harbour’s Nathan Mackinnon is the latest NHLer from Nova Scotia to achieve a significant career milestone, as he wrapped up the Colorado Avalanche’s regular season with 140 points — the most scored by one player in a single season for the franchise, which date backs to the Quebec Nordiques.
The 28-year-old centre had two assists during a 5-1 rout of the Edmonton Oilers at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, on Thursday.
His second assist was enough to surpass a previous record held by Peter Stastny, who recorded 139 points in the 1981-82 season when the club played in Quebec City.
In a post-game interview, Mackinnon told reporters the support of his teammates was integral to his regular season performance.
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“A lot of guys have helped me out along the way. We’ve had tons of great hockey this season,” he said,
“My focus is definitely on the playoffs,” MacKinnon then added, as Colorado is gearing up for another run for the Stanley Cup.
The former Halifax Mooseheads star, who tallied 51 goals and 89 assists throughout the 2023-24 regular season, finished four points behind the Tampa Bay Lighting’s Nikita Kucherov in the league’s overall scoring race.
Despite this, his dominant campaign has many suggesting Mackinnon is favoured to win the Hart Trophy — an honour awarded to the league’s most valuable player.
Mackinnon and the Avalanche will begin their quest for the franchise’s fourth Stanley Cup — most recently lifting the trophy in 2022 — against the Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs this weekend.
The puck drops for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series in Winnipeg on Sunday.
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