Watch: Avalanche's MacKinnon puts exclamation point on season

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) celebrates his assistant of a goal in the first period against the Edmonton Oilers at Ball Arena. Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon puts exclamation point on historic season

By Mike Santa Barbara | Last updated 4/18/24

In game No. 82, Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon put an exclamation point on an already historic 2023-24 campaign, recording point No. 140 to set the single-season franchise mark.

Moments after tying the record on his 88th assist of the year, MacKinnon etched his name atop the franchise record books with his second helper of the night — a beautiful feed to forward Valeri Nichushkin to give the Avs an early 3-0 advantage over the Edmonton Oilers.

Nathan MacKinnon sets #GoAvsGo single-season franchise record with 140 points pic.twitter.com/d6IYKpVXSE
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) April 19, 2024

MacKinnon's latest feat is just the icing on the cake of a remarkable MVP-caliber season.

Earlier this year, MacKinnon recorded at least a point in an incredible 35 straight home games to start the season. Not only is the number a franchise record, but it was the second-longest streak in NHL history behind Wayne Gretzky, who registered a point in 40-straight home games during the 1988-89 campaign.

In addition to finishing third in the NHL in assists (89), MacKinnon also had a career year in the goal-scoring department, posting 51 tallies, the fourth-most in the league.

Meanwhile, MacKinnon also had two four-goal games in 2023-24, the most by a player in a single season since Alexander Ovechkin (two) in 2007-08.

The 28-year-old's breakout year has him smack dab in the middle of the race for the Hart Trophy alongside Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews, Tampa Bay Lightning's Nikita Kucherov and Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid.

According to BetMGM's latest odds, MacKinnon is currently the favorite (-350), trailed by Kucherov (+500), Matthews (+500) and McDavid (+2550).

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