The Colorado Avalanche have been having a season for the ages, with a list of accolades that includes a 27 game home points streak, the President's Trophy, and one of the most statistically dominant teams in recent memory. However, the Avs look to also be finishing in a unique position amongst the NHL ranks this year, as with his assist against the Calgary Flames last night, Martin Necas and Nathan MacKinnon have become the only teammates in the NHL to both hit the 100 point mark this season, with the former Hurricane crossing the century threshold for the first time in his career.
Necas has had a career year with the Avalanche after signing a contract extension with the team in November, now setting a career high in goals, assists, and total points, while finishing in the top ten of the league's point race. Eight players have hit the 100 point mark this season, with Necas and Boston's David Pastrnak sitting exactly on the dot. Ahead of those two are Nick Suzuki (MTL), Mark Scheifele (WPG), and Macklin Celebrini (SJS), along with the league's top contenders for the Hart, including MacKinnon.
MacKinnon has been contending for the league lead in points all year, and as the league's top goal scorer, MacKinnon has been battling it out with Nikita Kucherov and Connor McDavid for the Hart Trophy. Though with only two games left on Colorado's schedule and a 7 point gap between him and McDavid in the lead, it may be that MacKinnon doesn't have the opportunity to take home that piece of hardware this year. McDavid, however, has been missing his usual running mate Leon Draisatl. The German forward was injured earlier this year and has been limited to 65 games, finishing just short of the 100 point mark with 97.
Meanwhile, MacKinnon and Necas have been leading the way on a dominant Avalanche squad that has punched their ticket to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. The Avs will hope to take their high flying offense and their 100+ point duo into the playoffs and to a Stanley Cup title after their best finish since 2021-22, when they last won the Cup.