Nathan MacKinnon makes Avs history with ‘off the charts’ performance in Game 2

Nathan MacKinnon tied Sakic's franchise record for consecutive 3-point playoff games, passed Forsberg in playoff goals and leapfrogged Modano on NHL list

BY JAKE SHAPIRO

May 5, 2026, 9:40 PM

Follow on Google News

Watch: What were the BIG takeaways from Sean Payton's first camp press conference? | Freshly Grated | 24 mins

A third-straight three-point night from Nathan MacKinnon has the star vaulting up Colorado’s history books, and more importantly has his Avalanche up 2-0 over the Minnesota Wild in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

MacKinnon’s one goal and two assists effort in the 5-2 win moved him to second all-time in Avalanche/Nordiques for goals scored. In passing Peter Forsberg’s 58 career playoff goals for the franchise, MacKinnon also notched his third-straight three-point night, which ties Joe Sakic’s record from the 1997 playoffs of most consecutive games with three or more points in club history.

A rocket from MacKinnon 🚀 pic.twitter.com/8HYTbp7LW0

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) May 6, 2026

The 30-year-old superstar continues to climb the all-time NHL playoff ladder as well. With his three-point performance, MacKinnon put his name next to Sidney Crosby for the 15th-most three-or-more point games in NHL playoff history. His goal — a power-play laser at 13:18 of the third period, assisted by Nazem Kadri and Gabriel Landeskog — also moved him past Mike Modano on the all-time NHL playoff goals list, where he now sits tied for 38th.

But the scoring wasn’t even the best part of MacKinnon’s night, at least that’s what the coach felt.

“He was unbelievable tonight, on both sides of the puck,” Jared Bednar said. “The physicality, the defending, details of hunger to check, contributing in all three zones, and the speed and pace that he played — early in the game, it was like he was shot out of a cannon, right?”

“So I thought that’s one of his best games in the playoffs,” he said. “It’s not about production. You know, he’s gonna produce, but it kind of reminds me of, like, he’s just doing whatever it takes for a team to win. That’s what he wants the most. It’s not about scoring goals, and he’s gonna hold himself to a standard, and he wants to help produce every night, ’cause it’s the best, you know, way for our team to win, but he’s committed in all the other areas right now, and that game was off the charts, in my opinion.”

MacKinnon’s fingerprints were all over this one from the opening puck drop. He set up Martin Necas’ opening goal just 2:51 into the first period and then added the primary assist on Gabriel Landeskog’s power-play tally at 8:24 before capping his night with the third-period dagger.

If MacKinnon keeps this pace going into Game 3 on Saturday night in St. Paul, the Wild will be toast.