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Avalanche secure Presidents’ Trophy with win over Flames
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- Avalanche secure Presidents’ Trophy with win over Flames
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The Colorado Avalanche took home the Presidents' Trophy Thursday night following a 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames at Ball Arena.
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Colorado improved to 52-16-10, reaching 114 points with four games remaining. The franchise has now claimed the Presidents' Trophy four times (1996-97, 2000-01, 2020-21, 2025-26), tying the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers for the second-most all-time, behind the Detroit Red Wings (six). The Avalanche also secured the Central Division title earlier in the week and holds the tiebreaker over Carolina, despite the Hurricanes being just six points behind.
Nathan MacKinnon led the way with a goal and two assists, reaching a career-high 52 goals, which leads the NHL. His empty-net goal at 19:05 of the third period ensured the win. MacKinnon also became the first player in franchise history (including Quebec Nordiques era) to record 20 three-point games in a single season.
Martin Necas contributed a goal and two assists, scoring his 38th of the season, while Gabriel Landeskog opened the scoring with a power-play goal late in the first period. Mackenzie Blackwood made 28 saves in net for Colorado, while Dustin Wolf stopped 38 shots for Calgary.
The Flames (32-37-9) were eliminated from playoff contention for the fourth straight season earlier in the week. Rookie Tyson Gross scored his first NHL goal in his third career game to cut the deficit to 2-1 late in the third. He appeared to tie the game moments later, but the goal was overturned for offside after an Avalanche challenge.
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Colorado played without Nazem Kadri (finger injury) and Cale Makar (upper body). Veteran defenseman Brent Burns finished with an assist, bringing his season count to 34 points. At age 41, he tied Nicklas Lidstrom for the second-most points in a season by a defenseman aged 40 or older.
With 52 wins, the Avalanche are tied for the second-most in franchise history, just four shy of the record 56, and they could become the first team in franchise history to reach 120 points, a feat only 12 teams in NHL history have accomplished. Interestingly enough, Colorado is just the sixth team to lead the league standings continuously from Nov. 1 through the season's end.
The Avalanche will enter the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and will face the second wild-card team, avoiding a first-round matchup against the top division contenders, Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild .
Related: Why Avalanche's Nazem Kadri is missing Flames game before playoffs
Related: Avalanche's Cale Makar still on track for regular season return from injury
