DENVER — The ever-modest Cale Makar did all he could to downplay his two-goal, four-assist night. It was a performance that just so happened to be the most productive offensive showing by a defenseman in franchise history.
“I don’t know if they were really great,” the Colorado Avalanche standout said about his six-point outing in a 7-3 victory over San Jose on Thursday. “Nothing was super pretty.”
Teammate Nathan MacKinnon might beg to differ. He made sure to put Makar’s achievement in proper perspective.
His entire season, too.
“Tough to find a better player in this league,” said MacKinnon, who had two goals and three assists against the Sharks. “It’s amazing. It’s fun to see.”
Makar became the third defenseman in the last 30 years to have a six-point game, joining the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Kris Letang (Dec. 27, 2023) and the Montreal Canadiens’ Sheldon Souray (Jan. 10, 2004), according to NHL Stats.
“It seems like the forwards are really rolling,” explained Makar, who has 24 goals and 50 assists this season. “They’re finding ways to get to the net. And when guys do that, we just try and get the puck to the net from the back end and they get rewarded.”
The 26-year-old star was setting up plays for teammates in all sorts of ways, situations and fashion. There was a pass that led to Joel Kiviranta’s short-handed goal to kick off Colorado’s scoring spree. Another pass helped set up Martin Necas’ power-play goal, and two more assists paved the way for MacKinnon’s goals.
Makar joined Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov as the only players with six-point games this season.
The high-flying Avalanche offense certainly made it a rough return for former Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev.
Now, another offensive weapon is on the way as Makar learned on the ice after the game. The Avalanche picked up forward Brock Nelson — along with William Dufour — from the New York Islanders for defenseman Oliver Kylington, forward Calum Ritchie, a first-round pick in the 2026 draft and a conditional third-round pick in 2028.
“It’s exciting to see that they want to invest in this group,” Makar said of the front office. “We’ve just got to continue to play well and get better.”
MacKinnon felt the same way as the Avalanche chase their second Stanley Cup in four seasons.
“It’s up to us. There’s no other way,” said MacKinnon, who’s three points shy of 1,000 in his career. “We’re not in rebuild mode.”
