MacKinnon Joins the 400 Club as Avalanche Rout Blues on New Year’s Eve

DENVER —  Nathan MacKinnon scored twice to become the 114th player in NHL history to reach 400 career goals, and the Colorado Avalanche closed out 2025 with a dominant 6–1 victory over the St. Louis Blues at Ball Arena.

MacKinnon also became the first player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to record 70 points in fewer than 40 games into a season.

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But that wasn’t all.

Valeri Nichushkin recorded his second career regular season hat trick, Brock Nelson added a goal, and the night quickly turned into what could only be described as an Olympic-style beatdown. Colorado scored four times in the opening 4:39, seizing control early against St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington, who was selected to represent Team Canada at the Milan Olympics despite entering the night with a sub-.900 save percentage.

At the other end, Mackenzie Blackwood—left off the Olympic roster in favor of Binnington—turned aside 12 shots.

Dalibor Dvorsky scored the lone goal for the Blues and Binnington, a former Stanley Cup champion, allowed six goals on 43 shots, including four on the first nine he faced.

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With the win, the Avalanche (30-2-7) extended their winning streak to nine games and their home winning streak to 15 games.

Nichushkin opened the scoring just 60 seconds into the game, taking a pass from Artturi Lehkonen in the slot before firing a shot that caromed off Binnington and was tucked home on the rebound to give Colorado a 1–0 lead. The goal came on the first shot Binnington faced, hours after he had been named to Team Canada’s Olympic roster.

Cale Makar appeared to double the advantage moments later, snapping a shot past the St. Louis netminder, but the goal was overturned following a review that determined MacKinnon had made incidental contact with the goaltender just prior to the shot, which was deflected off a Blues defenseman.

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The reversal proved inconsequential. On Colorado’s next shot, Nichushkin struck again, beating Binnington to restore a two-goal cushion. The Avalanche maintained the pressure, and on the ensuing attempt, MacKinnon converted a rebound for his 400th career NHL goal, becoming the 114th player in league history to reach the milestone.

MacKinnon wasn’t finished. On the very next shot, he scored again, notching his 401st career goal and extending the lead to 4–0. By that point, Binnington—whose Olympic selection had been widely criticized earlier in the day—had surrendered four goals on nine shots, as Colorado overwhelmed St. Louis in a relentless opening surge.

With under nine minutes remaining in the period, Blackwood robbed Jimmy Snuggerud on a highlight-reel cross-crease save, deflecting the puck off his blocker just moments after the forward slipped around Devon Toews.

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At the end of the first, the Avalanche led 4–0, and the shots told the same story, with Colorado holding a commanding 20–4 advantage.

The second period began at a noticeably slower pace, but the Avalanche continued to control play. Colorado generated five shots on goal in the first eight minutes, while St. Louis managed just one.

The Blues were then penalized when Jake Neighbours was called for tripping Gabe Landeskog. This time, the Avalanche power play delivered, as Brock Nelson one-timed a feed from MacKinnon from the right circle to extend the lead to 5–0.

Just over a minute later, Colorado was forced to the penalty kill after Josh Manson tripped Snuggerud off a faceoff in the defensive zone. The Avalanche handled the situation cleanly and returned to even strength with just under seven minutes remaining in the period.

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Parker Kelly was later assessed a high-sticking penalty with under five minutes to play after catching Neighbours in the helmet, but St. Louis’ power play lasted less than a minute. Justin Faulk was then whistled for interference, leading to a brief stretch of 4-on-4 hockey.

Colorado failed to capitalize on the carryover power play, but the script remained unchanged as the Avalanche continued to dictate the pace. Six minutes into the final frame, Colorado held a commanding 38–7 edge in shots on goal, with St. Louis still searching for its first shot of the period.

The Blues finally got on the board with 5:28 remaining when Dvorsky executed a perfect redirect on a shot from Matthew Kessel that slipped through traffic.

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The Avalanche, however, had the final word. Nichushkin capped the night with his second career hat trick after breaking free from Oskar Sundqvist, taking a feed from Sam Malinski at the point, and deking around Binnington to seal a 6–1 victory on New Year’s Eve.

Gavin Brindley tweaked something in his upper-body with roughly 7 minutes to go in the game and is being evaluated. Head Coach Jared Bednar told The Hockey News that hopefully it’s nothing too serious.

The Avalanche will kick off 2026 from home when they face the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Coverage begins at 5 p.m. local time.

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