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.
That 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. 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 3 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. It was MacKinnon’s 20th straight home game with at least one point.
