DENVER (AP) — Valeri Nichushkin scored twice, Nathan MacKinnon added two assists to break the franchise’s single-season points mark and the Colorado Avalanche cruised into the playoffs behind a 5-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
MacKinnon wrapped up the regular season with 140 points (51 goals, 89 assists) to top Peter Stastny’s franchise record of 139 set in 1981-82 when the club was in Quebec.
The speedy MacKinnon couldn’t catch Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, which goes to the leading points scorer. Kucherov wound up with 144 points.
Still, MacKinnon made a compelling case for the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP. Then again, so have Kucherov, Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid.
“I don’t think one guy is more deserving (than) another guy,” MacKinnon said. “It’s out of my hands and I can’t control people who vote for me or don’t like me or like me. It’s all good either way.”
Mikko Rantanen, Josh Manson and Zach Parise also scored to help the Avalanche snap a two-game slide. Colorado jumped out to a 4-0 lead midway through the first period and never looked back in a game where the Oilers rested several of their starters, including McDavid.