The Colorado Avalanche had one heck of a New Year’s Eve party on Wednesday night. They blew out the St. Louis Blues 6-1 at home to end the 2025 calendar year. The game was never close, with the Avalanche dominating from start to finish.
The Avs outshot the Blues 43-13, with the Avalanche scoring four goals in under five minutes to open the game. The contest was pretty much over at that point. Colorado evidently took it down a notch, pretty much coasting for the rest of the night.
It was too bad that a late goal spoiled the shutout bid for MacKenzie Blackwood. The Avalanche netminder made three brilliant saves, including this one:
BLACKWOOD DENIES ❌ pic.twitter.com/VqknXgdT6a
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) January 1, 2026
With that in mind, here’s the latest edition of the Avalanche news.
Avalanche get 30th win
The Avalanche ended an impressive first half of the season by notching their 30th win of the year. The club finalized the 2025 portion of the 2025-26 season with a 30-2-7 mark for 67 points. The win opened up a 10-point lead over the Dallas Stars, who lost 4-1 to the Buffalo Sabres.
The win was also the Avalanche's ninth in a row, and, most importantly, it was their 15th consecutive home win. The Avalanche are now three wins away from tying their franchise record of 18 straight home wins.
It’s worth pointing out that the record winning streak was set in 2021-22, the last time the Avs won the Stanley Cup.
MacKinnon milestone
In what’s been a season filled with milestones, Nathan MacKinnon added two more goals and four points to his season total. In particular, his goals were the 400th and 401st of his career. MacKinnon became the 114th player in NHL history to top 400 tallies.
He’s one goal shy of Shane Doan for 113th on the all-time list. Paul Kariya and John Ogrodnick also rank one goal above MacKinnon. At his current rate, MacKinnon could land in the top 100 of all-time goal scorers by the end of the season.
MacKinnon’s four-point night was also the 32nd of his career, tying him with Joe Sakic for second all-time in franchise history. Peter Stastny leads that category with 53 four-point contests.
Nichushkin hatty
On any night, getting four points would be enough to earn the game’s first star. But on Wednesday night, it was Valeri Nichushkin who earned that honor. Nichushkin notched the second regular-season hat trick of his career and third overall.
Nichushkin and MacKinnon scored two goals apiece in the first period, with Nichushkin notching his hat trick goal at the 16-minute mark of the third period. Fans covered the ice with hats in celebration of the unique occasion.
The Avalanche’s Russian star has struggled at times this season. He’s also missed time with injuries. But it could be that Wednesday night’s outburst could be the spark to lead him to a hot streak.
The Avalanche will play their first game of 2026 on Saturday night as they visit the Carolina Hurricanes as part of a three-game East Coast swing.