RECAP: Blackhawks Shutdown by Avalanche

DENVER -- Nathan MacKinnon became the 100th player in NHL history to record 1,000 career points, surpassing the mark with two assists for the Colorado Avalanche in a 3-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at Ball Arena on Monday.

“I think it's cool. It's fun to accomplish something with friends and teammates and stuff,” MacKinnon said. “You want team success. You want everyone to celebrate accomplishments and wins and everything like that. This thing is just for me, but it's a long road [with] ups and downs. Definitely a cool moment though.”

MacKinnon’s 1,000th point was an assist on the first goal of the game 31 seconds into the third period, a deflection by Artturi Lehkonen. It also extended his home point streak to 20 games.

“I think it's big. I think he'll downplay it, as he always does,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “But I think when it's all said and done for him, he'll remember these milestones and appreciate it more than he does now because he's so focused by the moment. It's not a big deal to him now, but I think when it's all done and he gets a little older and starts looking back on his career and other people look back on his career, they're going to be big moments.”

MacKinnon (362 goals, 639 assists) became the third player in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history to post 1,000 points with the franchise, joining Joe Sakic (1,641) and Peter Stastny (1,048).

“It's impressive, especially at the age he's at,” Chicago captain Nick Foligno said. “It’s a credit to the type of player [he is] and the way he attacks his game. He's an unreal competitor, and he’s a great ambassador for our game, too. It's impressive to see at his age, the abilities and what he's done to this organization, and I'm sure there's going to be a lot more points to come.”

Martin Necas and Joel Kiviranta scored for the Avalanche (39-24-2), who swept a six-game homestand for the first time in franchise history. Scott Wedgewood made 20 saves in his second shutout of the season and eighth in the NHL.

“I'm liking what I'm seeing from our group. We had a little bit of everything in the game tonight, even though it was pretty sloppy,” Bednar said. “Coming out of the break here, [Wedgewood’s] been fantastic, and that's what we need. We got a goalie that can win every single night for us. They're giving us a chance to win every single night, and it gives you a better opportunity to win on nights like this when you're not perfect with the puck.”

Spencer Knight made 18 saves for the Blackhawks (20-36-9), who have lost two straight and three of four.

“That's what [stinks],” Foligno said. “It's like you feel like you probably played one of your better games in a while, even though we've gotten points in the past few. We were dialed in. We were dominating some aspects of the game.”

Artyom Levshunov, the No. 2 pick of the 2024 NHL Draft by Chicago, made his NHL debut. The 19-year-old defenseman had three shots on goal in 20:55 of ice time.

“Step by step, yeah, I was getting more confident, for sure,” Levshunov said. “Unfortunately, we lost, but yeah, I think we played hard.”

Necas appeared to score at 7:31 of the first period from the right post off a feed from MacKinnon, but the Blackhawks successfully challenged the play for offsides. Video review determined Necas entered the zone before the puck.

“Right when Marty scored, he thought it was offside. So we're just kind of like 'Yeah, I don't know if it's going to count,’” MacKinnon said. “I actually thought about that before the game, that that was going to happen, that they're going to call it back when everyone came on. So, it came true.”

Said Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson: “The first one was more fun, but nice to be able to do it twice, and happy for Nate. He puts a lot of work into it, and sure he's happy to have it in the rearview mirror, and now he can just focus on winning hockey games and get all that behind him.”

Lehkonen gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead in the opening minute of the third period when he redirected Devon Toews’ shot from the blue line far side. MacKinnon had the secondary assist.

"Obviously, our team got a little boost from that, because we answered with a couple goals following that,” Bednar said. “But it was good to come out and finally put one in, because we had some really good chances too, even though they were a little fewer and farther between.”

Necas extended it to 2-0 at 3:27 with a wrist shot from the left hash marks top shelf over Knight’s glove. MacKinnon recorded the assist to surpass the 1,000-point mark.

“If you can say that a loss is encouraging, I guess yeah, it was,” Chicago interim coach Anders Sorensen said. “I thought we did a lot of good things, and I thought both goalies were good. Ours was good too but came up a little short, unfortunately.”

Kiviranta scored into an empty net at 19:06 for the 3-0 final.

NOTES: Selected by the Avalanche with the No. 1 pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, MacKinnon is the first player from his draft class to hit the 1,000-point mark and the 17th first overall pick to do so. … MacKinnon became the seventh player to record multiple home point streaks of at least 20 games, joining Wayne Gretzky (eight), Mike Bossy (two), Guy Lafleur (two), Mario Lemieux (two), Connor McDavid (two) and Bobby Orr (two). … Necas set a new career high with 72 points (22 goals, 50 assists) in 65 games. … Blackhawks forward Jason Dickinson returned after missing 11 games with a high ankle sprain. He finished minus-2 in 17:16 of ice time. … Chicago defenseman Alec Martinez left the game at 9:17 of the first period with an undisclosed injury. He’s expected to be out day to day.