MacKinnon's Four-Point Night Powers Avalanche Past Lightning 6-3
Nathan MacKinnon posted a goal and three assists — and hit a career scoring milestone along the way — as Colorado beat Tampa Bay 6-3 at Ball Arena to snap a two-game skid and halt the Lightning's three-game winning streak.
Nathan MacKinnon's Friday night at Ball Arena had everything: a four-point outburst, a milestone, and a win. The Avalanche superstar scored once and assisted three times as Colorado defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3, reaching 1,300 combined regular-season and playoff points — the fourth-fastest ever at 1,069 games, behind only Nikita Kucherov, Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid.
Devon Toews opened the scoring 68 seconds in off a cross-ice feed from Martin Necas, and Nazem Kadri doubled the lead on a first-period power play with his first goal of the season. Fedor Svechkov batted a rebound out of midair just 24 seconds into the second to make it 3-0, and though Jake Guentzel's two goals and Charle-Edouard D'Astous's strike kept Tampa Bay hanging around, Artturi Lehkonen's second-period one-timer and MacKinnon's third-period rush goal — sprung by Lehkonen and buried inside the near post — kept the hosts clear. Necas sealed it into an empty net with his sixth of the season after finishing with a goal and two assists, while Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 31 of 34 shots.
Colorado's night even included a 2026 U.S. Open flavor: golf champion Wyndham Clark attended with his trophy, drinking from the cup to a loud ovation. The Avalanche (6-4-1) travel to Nashville on Sunday. Tampa Bay (7-3-0), which got 18 saves from Andrei Vasilevskiy, visits Utah on Saturday having seen its three-game winning streak snapped.