DENVER — Cale Makar achieved a remarkable feat for the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night, recording two goals and four assists in their 7-3 victory over San Jose. Despite this being the most prolific offensive performance by a defenseman in the history of the franchise, Makar remained humble about his achievement. “I don’t know if they were really great,” he noted regarding his six-point contribution. “Nothing was super pretty.”
Teammate Nathan MacKinnon, however, was quick to highlight Makar’s accomplishment and his overall contributions this season. “Tough to find a better player in this league,” MacKinnon remarked. “It’s amazing. It’s fun to see.” MacKinnon himself had an impressive showing, with two goals and three assists in the same game.
According to NHL Stats, Makar’s six-point game placed him among a select group of defensemen, including Kris Letang and Sheldon Souray, who have achieved such a feat in the past 30 years. “It seems like the forwards are really rolling,” explained Makar, who boasts 24 goals and 50 assists this season. “They’re finding ways to get to the net. And when guys do that, we just try and get the puck to the net from the back-end and they get rewarded.”
Makar found various creative ways to assist his teammates. His skillful pass initiated Joel Kiviranta’s short-handed goal, setting the tone for Colorado’s offensive efforts. Further assists from him contributed to Martin Necas’ power-play goal and MacKinnon’s scoring.
In accomplishing this, Makar matched Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov as the only other player with a six-point game this season. The Avalanche’s potent offense made its mark against former Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev.
Further bolstering their lineup, Colorado acquired forward Brock Nelson and William Dufour from the New York Islanders in exchange for defenseman Oliver Kylington, forward Calum Ritchie, a future first-round pick, and a conditional third-round pick. “It’s exciting to see that they want to invest in this group,” Makar stated about the front office’s investment. “We’ve just got to continue to play well and get better.”
MacKinnon echoed Makar’s sentiment as the Avalanche strive for another Stanley Cup, following their recent successes. “It’s up to us. There’s no other way,” he declared. As MacKinnon approaches the 1,000-point milestone in his career, he emphasized their focus is firmly on seizing their opportunities now, rather than entering a rebuilding phase.
