Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon became the first player this season to hit the 50-goal mark after finding the back of the net in the opening period against the Vancouver Canucks.
With Vancouver out to an early 1-0 lead, MacKinnon found space in the slot and fired a wrist shot past Canucks’ netminder Kevin Lankinen. It’s the second time in his career he’s reached the milestone after scoring 51 goals during the 2023-24 campaign.
The marker was MacKinnon’s 121st point of the season, putting him in a tie for second with Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov for second most in the league. Connor McDavid has a four-point lead on both Kucherov and MacKinnon at 125 for the league-high.
MacKinnon is now three goals ahead of Montreal Canadiens winger Cole Caufield, who is second in the NHL.
The 30-year-old MacKinnon has helped the Avs build the best record in the league this season at 49-14-10 for 108 points in 73 games.
However, the Avalanche fell 8-6 Wednesday night for just their second loss in seven games. MacKinnon finished with seven shots on goal but only the one point.
Brock Boeser had three goals and an assist for the Canucks in the win.