The Colorado Avalanche officially punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Thursday night with a dominant 7-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Nathan MacKinnon, Devon Toews, Cale Makar, and Charlie Coyle each tallied a goal and two assists in the blowout victory, pushing Colorado to 98 points on the season (47-26-4). The Avs have now earned points in 16 of their last 18 games (14-2-2). Miles Wood chipped in a goal and an assist, while Brock Nelson and Parker Kelly also found the back of the net. Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood made 27 saves in the win.
For Columbus (34-31-9), Sean Monahan, Zach Aston-Reese, and Boone Jenner scored, but it wasn’t enough to slow down the Avalanche offense. Starting goalie Elvis Merzlikins allowed seven goals on 28 shots before being replaced by Daniil Tarasov, who stopped all four shots he faced.
Despite briefly taking a 3-2 lead in the second period—highlighted by Aston-Reese’s sharp-angle goal and Jenner’s tap-in—Columbus quickly lost momentum. Coyle tied the game with his first goal as an Avalanche at 12:39, followed by Kelly and Makar scoring in quick succession to make it 5-3 heading into the final frame. Makar’s goal, a one-timer off a MacKinnon feed, was his 30th of the season, making him just the ninth defenseman in NHL history to hit that milestone.
Toews and Wood added two more goals early in the third to seal the deal, ending Merzlikins’ night. While Columbus outshot Colorado 12-10 in the opening period, the Avalanche led 2-1 after 20 minutes thanks to goals from MacKinnon and Nelson.
Jonathan Drouin (lower-body injury) and Martin Necas were both out of the lineup for Colorado, with Wood and Jimmy Vesey stepping in.
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