Necas gets to 100 points, MacKinnon likely locks up Rocket Richard Trophy

The Colorado Avalanche played a meaningless game in the playoff standings on Tuesday night, but Martin Necas and Nathan MacKinnon had a big moment late.

The 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames was secondary to what happened in the final seconds.

Necas secured his 100th point of the season, assisting on a MacKinnon empty-net goal with 17 seconds left.

For Necas, it’s the first time in his career he’s reached milestone. The centerpiece of the Mikko Rantanen trade signed a huge contract extension earlier this season and has settled in nicely as a key piece in Colorado.

And now MacKinnon leads Connor McDavid by five goals, almost assuredly locking him up the Rocket Richard Trophy. Montreal’s Cole Caufield is in second with 51 goals, but his season wrapped up on Tuesday and he can’t catch MacKinnon.

In theory, McDavid could with five tallies on Thursday against the Canucks, especially because MacKinnon is unlikely to play in Colorado’s finale against the Seattle Kraken.

Only Milan Hejduk of the Avalanche has ever won the Rocket Richard (2002-03), given to the league’s leading goal-scorer.

The major milestone moment for Marty 👏 pic.twitter.com/f3c9bHgsx6

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 15, 2026

Necas is just the ninth player in Avalanche history to record 100 points in a season and it’s the 28th time overall a skater has reached the century mark. Of course, MacKinnon did it this year and now sits at 127 points.

It’s only the fourth time multiple Avs have done it in the same season, with MacKinnon and Rantanen accomplishing it twice and Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg during the 1995-96 season.

Also in the victory, Colorado tied its record for points in a year with 119. That matches the 2021-22 team, who of course went on to win the Stanley Cup.

With the Presidents’ Trophy already secured, Colorado could’ve packed it in. But it’s cool to see some personal milestones reached (as well as team ones) in what’s been a remarkable regular season.

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