Avalanche’s 2025-26 Season Filled with Memorable Moments

In the 2025-26 campaign, the Colorado Avalanche set a single-season franchise record in points, won the Central Division and Presidents’ Trophy in addition to advancing to the Western Conference Final.  

It's time to look back on a season filled with win streaks, comebacks, milestones and many victories.

Regular Season

October

The Avalanche began its 30th season without losing in regulation for the first eight games and debuted its Quebec Nordiques Heritage Series Jerseys, which were a nod to the franchise’s previous home during the Colorado’s 30th anniversary celebration.

In the season’s first game, Nathan MacKinnon became the Avalanche’s all-time leader in points (1,016), passing Joe Sakic for the most points since the team moved to Colorado. Additionally, that game marked Gabriel Landeskog’s first regular-season game since March 10, 2022.

Another huge milestone happened during the first month of the season when Brent Burns became the 23rd player in NHL history to play 1,500 regular-season games on October 11th. During that game, Gavin Brindley scored the first goal of his NHL career.

Later that month, Martin Necas signed an eight-year contract extension and celebrated it by scoring 41 seconds into Colorado's next game, a 4-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights on October 31st.

Leading the Avs in scoring over 12 games in October were MacKinnon (9g/9a), Cale Makar (4g/13a) and Martin Necas (8g/8a). 

November

Colorado did not lose in regulation in November, going 11-0-2 and winning 10 consecutive games from November 4th-26th. Included in that 10-game win streak was a three-contest shutout streak with victories over the Nashville Predators, Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks from November 22nd-26th. When that shutout streak was snapped on November 28th in Minnesota, the Avalanche had played a franchise-record 221:42 of gametime without allowing a goal.

Earlier in the month, the Avalanche swept a road back-to-back by scoring nine goals in a 9-1 victory against the Edmonton Oilers before defeating the Vancouver Canucks 5-4 in overtime thanks to a tally from Brindley. With that win in Vancouver, Jared Bednar recorded the 400th victory of his career.

In November, MacKinnon (11g/15a), Necas (5g/12a) and Makar (5g/10a) led Colorado in scoring. 

December

The Avalanche’s dominance continued in December, with the team posting a 12-1-1 record that included a nine-game win streak to end the month. During that win streak, Colorado won two games past regulation, with MacKinnon scoring both game-winning goals, lighting the lamp in overtime at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers on December 6th and tallying the shootout winner against the Golden Knights on December 27th.

MacKinnon tallied two more special goals in December, passing Sakic for the most goals in Avalanche history (392) in a 6-2 win against the Florida Panthers on December 11th and scoring his 400th NHL goal in a 6-1 win against the St. Louis Blues on New Year’s Eve.

Leading the Avs in scoring in December were MacKinnon (14g/12a), Necas (6g/12a), Brock Nelson (8g/6a) and Valeri Nichushkin (6g/8a). 

As the calendar turned from 2025 to 2026, the Avalanche had a record of 30-2-7 without a regulation loss on home ice in 2025. 

January

Colorado opened the 2026 with a 5-3 comeback win against the Carolina Hurricanes on January 3rd to extend its win streak to 10 games. Less than a week later, on January 8th, the Avalanche scored eight goals in an 8-2 home win against the Ottawa Senators. In the team’s next game, Trent Miner picked up his first NHL win and shutout when the Avs defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 on January 10th.

The Avalanche concluded January with a four-game road trip bookended by a 4-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs thanks to a Brock Nelson hat trick and a 5-0 victory against the Detroit Red Wings behind a 28-save performance from Mackenzie Blackwood.

In the first month of 2026, MacKinnon (6g/15a), Nelson (12g/6a), Necas (3g/8a) and Makar (3g/8a) led Colorado in scoring.  

February

The Avalanche played only five games in February, posting a 3-2-0 record.  

Necas (3g/3a), MacKinnon (6a), Makar (2g/2a) and Nichushkin (4a) led the Avs in scoring in February. 

March

The Avalanche began March by sweeping a three-game road trip that concluded with a 5-4 shootout win against the Dallas Stars on March 6th after Nichushkin tied the game with 15 seconds left in regulation. During the game, Landeskog posted his 600th NHL point, and Necas recorded his 400th NHL point.

To start its third multi-game road trip of the month, the Avs became the first team to clinch a playoff spot and reach 100 points in the 2025-26 season with a 4-1 win against the Blackhawks on March 20th. Four days later, Logan O’Connor made his season debut after a long rehab and posted an assist in a 6-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Avalanche finished March 8-1-0 on the road after a 3-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets on March 26th. In a home game against the Jets two days later, Makar recorded the 500th point of his NHL career, becoming the fourth fastest defenseman to reach the milestone. On March 30th, Colorado concluded its March slate of games with a 9-2 win against the Calgary Flames, highlighted by a two-goal performance by Nazem Kadri against his former team.

In March, Necas (10g/14a), MacKinnon (9g/14a) and Makar (3g/12a) led Colorado in scoring. 

April

The Avs took a huge step to clinching the Central Division with a 2-0 win against the Stars on April 4th. The next day, Burns became the second player in League history to play in 1,000-consecutive regular-season contests. In its second-consecutive contest against the Blues, the Avalanche defeated St. Louis to clinch the Central Division on April 7th. With a win against the Flames on April 9th, the Avalanche clinched the Presidents’ Trophy. On April 13th, Nelson played in his 1,000th NHL game. The next night, Necas recorded his first-career 100-point season in a 3-1 win against the Flames that saw the Avalanche tie a franchise record for road wins in a campaign (29). To conclude the regular-season, the Avalanche defeated the Seattle Kraken and set a single-campaign record for points (121).

Leading the Avs in scoring in April’s regular-season season games were Necas (3g/5a), MacKinnon (4g/3a), Sam Malinski (3g/3a), Burns (2g/4a) and Nichushkin (2g/4a). 

Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Avalanche opened the playoffs with a Round One sweep against the Los Angeles Kings that included a Game Two overtime courtesy of a Nicolas Roy goal. In the series, Colorado allowed just five goals while MacKinnon (2g/2a), Landeskog (2g/2a) and Artturi Lehkonen (2g/2a) tied for the team lead with four points. In net for the Avs, Scott Wedgewood recorded the first four Stanley Cup Playoff victories of his career.

In Round Two, the Avalanche faced the Minnesota Wild in what turned out to be a much different series than Round One. In the first two games of the series, Colorado scored 14 goals, including a nine-tally performance in Game One. After a loss in Game Three, the Avalanche came from behind to win Game Four as Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 19 of 21 shots for his first playoff win of the season. In Game Five, the Avs were down 3-0 after the first period, but came back to tie the game in regulation thanks to a goal from Parker Kelly at 11:00 of the second period and third-period tallies from Jack Drury at 16:27 and MacKinnon at 18:37. At 3:52 of overtime, Brett Kulak sent the Avs to the Western Conference Final via a right-circle one-timer.

Leading the Avs in scoring in Round Two were MacKinnon (5g/4a), Necas (1g/8a) and Devon Toews (1g/4a).  

Leading the Way

In the regular season, the Avalanche led the NHL in wins (55), points (121), regulation victories (48), goals (298), goals against (197) and penalty-kill percentage (84.6%). MacKinnon led the League in goals (53), winning his first Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy while his 97 even-strength points were the most in a single season since Wayne Gretzky’s 103 in 1990-91. Colorado’s goaltending duo of Wedgewood and Blackwood combined to win the William M. Jennings Trophy, while Wedgewood led all qualified goalies (at least 25 games played) in save percentage (.921) and goals against average (2.02). Additionally, Landeskog took home the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy and the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award after the Avalanche went 45-7-8 when its captain was in the lineup. 

Additionally, Colorado posted 16 comeback wins, with six of those coming in the third period. The Avalanche received contributions from the entire team, with 11 players posting at least 30 points, 11 Avs scoring at least 10 goals and six different Colorado skaters recording at least 20 tallies.  

The Avalanche franchise won its 15th division title since moving to Denver, took home its fourth Presidents’ Trophy and advanced to the Conference Finals for the 10th time, with eight of those occurring since the team moved to Denver. 

After a year of highlights, milestones and wins, the 2025-26 Colorado Avalanche season was one to remember.