DENVER (AP) — Cale Makar had two goals and four assists for the first six-point game by a defenseman in franchise history and Nathan MacKinnon added two goals and three assists to extend his home points streak to 18 games in the Colorado Avalanche's 7-3 romp over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.
MacKinnon moved three points away from joining Joe Sakic and Peter Stastny as the only skaters in franchise history to reach 1,000 points.
Jonathan Drouin, Joel Kiviranta and Martin Necas added goals as the Avalanche improved to 4-0 on their six-game homestand. They have won 12 straight against the Sharks, roughing up former Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev in the rout.
In the middle of the game, Colorado added even more offense by trading with the New York Islanders for forward Brock Nelson.
Fabian Zetterlund, Macklin Celebrini and William Eklund scored for the Sharks, who wrapped up a seven-game trip 2-3-2. On Thursday morning, San Jose traded forward Nico Sturm to Florida.
Both teams faced their former goaltender following a Dec. 9 trade that landed Mackenzie Blackwood with Colorado and Georgiev in San Jose.
Blackwood made 31 saves, while Georgiev stopped 25 shots.
Late in the game, official Kilian McNamara skated off after taking a puck to the head.
Takeaways
Sharks: San Jose hasn't beaten the Avalanche since May 5, 2021.
Avalanche: Forward Jimmy Vesey made his debut with the Avalanche after being acquired from the New York Rangers last weekend.
Key moment
Kiviranta ignited the scoring spree with a short-handed goal 4:19 into the game.
Key stat
Makar scored his 39th career power-play goal to tie Sandis Ozolinsh for the most by an Avalanche/Nordiques defenseman.
Up next
Both teams take the ice Saturday, with Colorado hosting Toronto and San Jose at home against the New York Islanders.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
Pat Graham, The Associated Press