DENVER —
MacKinnon tied Tampa Bay‘s Nikita Kucherov for second with 121 points. They are four behind league leader Connor McDavid of Edmonton.
The 30-year-old MacKinnon turned in his fourth straight season of 110 or more points.
“That’s where he’s gotten his production to over the last handful of seasons — high expectations,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said before the game.
After the game, Bednar was less than thrilled with his team’s play even if they had a late surge that saw them tie it up.
“If you want to hand out badges for good effort and stuff like that — I think we’re beyond that at this time of year,” Bednar said. “If we’re making excuses for that performance, it’s going to be a short run.”
Asked what went wrong in the opening two periods — falling behind 6-2 at one point and pulling goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood — Bednar simply said: “It’s too long of list.”
