Nathan MacKinnon ties Avalanche record for most assists in a game

Nathan MacKinnon (5 of 7, Wikimedia Commons)

Colorado Avalanche centre Nathan MacKinnon of Halifax, Nova Scotia tied the Colorado Avalanche franchise record for most assists in a game with five. He accomplished the feat in a 6-3 Avalanche win over the Seattle Kraken at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Tuesday.

MacKinnon set up Chris Wagner and Ivan Ivan in the first period, Artturi Lehkonen and Mikko Rantanen in the second period, and Rantanen again in the third period. For the season, MacKinnon has 19 assists in 13 games.

MacKinnon is the eighth player in Quebec Nordique/Colorado Avalanche franchise history to record five assists in a game. Among the eight players are three other Canadian natives. They are Hall of Famer Michel Goulet of Peribonka, Quebec (in a 9-5 Nordiques win over the Montreal Canadiens on January 3, 1984), Mike Ricci of Scarborough, Ontario (in an 8-7 Nordiques win over the San Jose Sharks on December 12, 1992), and Canadian Olympic gold medalist Joe Sakic of Burnaby, British Columbia (in a 7-2 Colorado Avalanche win over the Edmonton Oilers on October 15, 1996). Sakic won the gold medal for Canada at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

With the win over the Kraken, the Avalanche improved to a record of six wins and seven losses for 12 points. They also snapped a three game losing streak where they lost three straight games by identical 5-2 results.

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