Overview
- Colorado beat St. Louis 6-1 in Denver as Valeri Nichushkin scored at 2, 4 and 57 minutes, with Nathan MacKinnon adding goals at 4 and 5 minutes and Brock Nelson scoring at 30, while Dalibor Dvorsky tallied for the Blues at 55.
- Nichushkin recorded the third hat trick of his NHL career after previous triples in April 2024 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs against Winnipeg and in March 2025 against Toronto.
- Nichushkin and MacKinnon became only the second set of teammates to each score multiple goals within the first five minutes of a game, a feat last achieved by Duane Sutter and Bryan Trottier of the Islanders in 1982.
- The Avalanche lead the Central Division with 67 points from 39 games and are unbeaten in nine straight, while Nichushkin’s season totals stand at 11 goals and 15 assists in 31 games.
- MacKinnon finished with two goals and two assists to reach 70 points in 39 games, moving atop the NHL scoring race ahead of Edmonton’s Connor McDavid on the goals tiebreaker.