Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon reaches 1,000-point milestone
DENVER — Nathan MacKinnon appeared to have reached the 1,000-point milestone in the first period of Colorado’s game against Chicago. His teammates even streamed onto the ice to celebrate his history-making assist.
It turned out to be just a dress rehearsal.
The goal — and MacKinnon’s assist — were wiped out by an offside review, but the Colorado star eventually made it to 1,000 points with an assist early in the third Monday night. So his teammates came off the bench a second time.
“It was tough when they disallowed it for sure,” MacKinnon said in an on-ice interview postgame. “It was kind of funny honestly. They had to come out again. Obviously I appreciate their support and wouldn’t be here without them.”
The Avalanche went on to beat the Blackhawks 3-0.
MacKinnon entered the game needing one point to reach 1,000. He ended up with two, both on third-period assists. The milestone point came when he dropped the puck off for Devon Toews at the blue line, and Toews’ shot was deflected in by Artturi Lehkonen, breaking a scoreless tie 31 seconds into the period.
The 29-year-old MacKinnon, the NHL’s reigning MVP, added another assist on Martin Necas’ goal about three minutes later. It was Necas who had the goal called back in the first.
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.
“Been here for a while, had some of the best teammates to ever play,” MacKinnon said. “Pretty fortunate. Obviously it’s a cool milestone, but it’s over now, and look forward to tomorrow night.”
MacKinnon was the top pick in the 2013 draft and is the 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.
Florida Panthers top defenseman Aaron Ekblad was suspended 20 games for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA performance enhancing substances program.
The league’s announcement Monday included that, per the collective bargaining agreement, the suspension came with a mandatory referral to the NHL/NHLPA program for substance abuse and behavioral health, where Ekblad will undergo evaluation and possible treatment.
Ekblad released a statement via the NHL Players’ Association shortly after the suspension was made public.
“The news that I had failed a random drug test was a shock,” Ekblad said. “Ultimately, I made a mistake by taking something to help me recover from recent injuries without first checking with proper medical and team personnel. I have let my teammates, the Panthers organization and our great fans down. For that, I am truly sorry. I have accepted responsibility for my mistake and will be fully prepared to return to my team when my suspension is over. I have learned a hard lesson and cannot wait to be back with my teammates.”
The Panthers have only 18 regular-season games remaining. Ekblad’s first career suspension will now keep him out until early in a potential first-round playoff series. Florida is in first place in the Atlantic Division.
Ekblad, 29, has anchored the Panthers’ top pairing this season alongside Gustav Forsling, producing three goals and 33 points in 56 games. He has spent his 11-year career in Florida, helping the Panthers reach a Stanley Cup Final in 2023 and win a championship in 2024. Ekblad is set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
This is the league’s first PED-related suspension since Nate Schmidt — then with the Vegas Golden Knights — received a 20-game ban.
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MacKinnon reaches 1,000 points, Avalanche blank Blackhawks for 6th win in row
Forward gets 2 assists, becomes 100th player in NHL history to reach mark; Wedgewood stops 20
Blackhawks at Avalanche | Recap
DENVER — Nathan MacKinnon became the 100th player in NHL history to record 1,000 career points, surpassing the mark with two assists for the Colorado Avalanche in a 3-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at Ball Arena on Monday.
“I think it’s cool. It’s fun to accomplish something with friends and teammates and stuff,” MacKinnon said. “You want team success. You want everyone to celebrate accomplishments and wins and everything like that. This thing is just for me, but it’s a long road [with] ups and downs. Definitely a cool moment though.”
MacKinnon’s 1,000th point was an assist on the first goal of the game 31 seconds into the third period, a deflection by Artturi Lehkonen. It also extended his home point streak to 20 games.
“I think it’s big. I think he’ll downplay it, as he always does,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “But I think when it’s all said and done for him, he’ll remember these milestones and appreciate it more than he does now because he’s so focused by the moment. It’s not a big deal to him now, but I think when it’s all done and he gets a little older and starts looking back on his career and other people look back on his career, they’re going to be big moments.”
CHI@COL: Lehkonen deflects it in and MacKinnon earns 1000th career point
MacKinnon (362 goals, 639 assists) became the third player in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history to post 1,000 points with the franchise, joining Joe Sakic (1,641) and Peter Stastny (1,048).
“It’s impressive, especially at the age he’s at,” Chicago captain Nick Foligno said. “It’s a credit to the type of player [he is] and the way he attacks his game. He’s an unreal competitor, and he’s a great ambassador for our game, too. It’s impressive to see at his age, the abilities and what he’s done to this organization, and I’m sure there’s going to be a lot more points to come.”
Martin Necas and Joel Kiviranta scored for the Avalanche (39-24-2), who swept a six-game homestand for the first time in franchise history. Scott Wedgewood made 20 saves in his second shutout of the season and eighth in the NHL.
“I’m liking what I’m seeing from our group. We had a little bit of everything in the game tonight, even though it was pretty sloppy,” Bednar said. “Coming out of the break here, [Wedgewood’s] been fantastic, and that’s what we need. We got a goalie that can win every single night for us. They’re giving us a chance to win every single night, and it gives you a better opportunity to win on nights like this when you’re not perfect with the puck.”
Spencer Knight made 18 saves for the Blackhawks (20-36-9), who have lost two straight and three of four.
“That’s what [stinks],” Foligno said. “It’s like you feel like you probably played one of your better games in a while, even though we’ve gotten points in the past few. We were dialed in. We were dominating some aspects of the game.”
Wedgewood made 20 stops in his 2nd shutout of the season
Artyom Levshunov, the No. 2 pick of the 2024 NHL Draft by Chicago, made his NHL debut. The 19-year-old defenseman had three shots on goal in 20:55 of ice time.
“Step by step, yeah, I was getting more confident, for sure,” Levshunov said. “Unfortunately, we lost, but yeah, I think we played hard.”
Necas appeared to score at 7:31 of the first period from the right post off a feed from MacKinnon, but the Blackhawks successfully challenged the play for offsides. Video review determined Necas entered the zone before the puck.
“Right when Marty scored, he thought it was offside. So we’re just kind of like ‘Yeah, I don’t know if it’s going to count,’” MacKinnon said. “I actually thought about that before the game, that that was going to happen, that they’re going to call it back when everyone came on. So, it came true.”
Said Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson: “The first one was more fun, but nice to be able to do it twice, and happy for Nate. He puts a lot of work into it, and sure he’s happy to have it in the rearview mirror, and now he can just focus on winning hockey games and get all that behind him.”
Lehkonen gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead in the opening minute of the third period when he redirected Devon Toews’ shot from the blue line far side. MacKinnon had the secondary assist.
“Obviously, our team got a little boost from that, because we answered with a couple goals following that,” Bednar said. “But it was good to come out and finally put one in, because we had some really good chances too, even though they were a little fewer and farther between.”
Necas extended it to 2-0 at 3:27 with a wrist shot from the left hash marks top shelf over Knight’s glove. MacKinnon recorded the assist to surpass the 1,000-point mark.
“If you can say that a loss is encouraging, I guess yeah, it was,” Chicago interim coach Anders Sorensen said. “I thought we did a lot of good things, and I thought both goalies were good. Ours was good too but came up a little short, unfortunately.”
Kiviranta scored into an empty net at 19:06 for the 3-0 final.
NOTES: Selected by the Avalanche with the No. 1 pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, MacKinnon is the first player from his draft class to hit the 1,000-point mark and the 17th first overall pick to do so. … MacKinnon became the seventh player to record multiple home point streaks of at least 20 games, joining Wayne Gretzky (eight), Mike Bossy (two), Guy Lafleur (two), Mario Lemieux (two), Connor McDavid (two) and Bobby Orr (two). … Necas set a new career high with 72 points (22 goals, 50 assists) in 65 games. … Blackhawks forward Jason Dickinson returned after missing 11 games with a high ankle sprain. He finished minus-2 in 17:16 of ice time. … Chicago defenseman Alec Martinez left the game at 9:17 of the first period with an undisclosed injury. He’s expected to be out day to day.
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March 10, 2025 / 11:49 PM CDT / AP
Artturi Lehkonen and Martin Necas scored in the third period, Nathan MacKinnon topped 1,000 points for his career, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-0 on Monday night for their sixth straight win.
Joel Kiviranta added an empty-netter in the final minute, and Scott Wedgewood stopped 20 shots for his eighth career shutout and second this season. The Avalanche finished a perfect 6-0-0 homestand.
Spencer Knight finished with 18 saves as Chicago lost for the eighth time in 11 games (3-5-3).
MacKinnon reached the milestone 31 seconds into the third on Lehkonen’s goal and then got another assist nearly 3 minutes later when Necas made it 2-0.
MacKinnon appeared to get No. 1,000 earlier in the game with a first-period assist on a goal by Necas, but it was negated after a challenge for offside — knocking MacKinnon back to 999 points.
Blackhawks: As badly has this season has gone for Chicago, the Blackhawks hadn’t been shut out. It finally happened in the team’s 65th game.
Avalanche: Colorado wasn’t exactly dominant against a Chicago team with the league’s second-worst record, but once the Avalanche took a multigoal lead, it seemed pretty safe.
Chicago had a two-man advantage for 1:52 in the middle of the second period after the Avalanche were called for two penalties in 8 seconds. But the Blackhawks couldn’t score.
MacKinnon became the 100th player to reach the 1,000-point club.
Blackhawks visit San Jose on Thursday, and Avalanche play at Minnesota on Tuesday.
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