League-worst Canucks stun Avalanche in wild 8-6 contest

Corey Masisak, The Denver Post on Apr 1, 2026

Published in Hockey

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DENVER — Two nights after a resounding performance, the Avalanche offered up their most inexplicable outing of the season.

Brock Boeser scored a hat trick, and the league-worst Vancouver Canucks came to Ball Arena and stunned the Avs in a wild 8-6 affair. Vancouver began the day 58 points behind Colorado in the NHL standings.

This result came just two nights after the Avs overwhelmed the Calgary Flames in a 9-2 victory.

Vancouver built a 6-2 lead in this game and chased goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood. The Avalanche, playing without star defenseman Cale Makar, stormed back to tie it, only for the Cancucks to reclaim the lead before the crowd had finished going crazy about the comeback.

Sam Malinski cut the deficit to 6-3 on the next shift. His shot from the perimeter went off former University of Denver star Zeev Buium, who was battling with Parker Kelly in front. The Canucks challenged for goalie interference, but the goal remained.

Kelly scored on the first shift of the third to make it a 6-4 game. That was his 19th goal in 74 games this season. He had 17 goals in the previous three seasons (215 games) combined.

A Brent Burns point shot cut the lead to one with 6:39 remaining. Then Malinski fired home his second of the night 37 seconds later to bring Colorado all the way back … briefly.

Elias Pettersson’s go-ahead goal came 23 seconds later, and quieted what had been a rocking arena. Boeser tacked on an empty-netter to complete his hat trick.

This one went sideways from the start. Max Sasson scored on the first shift, after a long outlet pass went off Josh Manson’s stick and right to the Canucks forward. Buium collected an assist on the play.

Nathan MacKinnon made it 1-1 on the next shift with his 50th goal of the season. MacKinnon’s wrist shot from above the circles beat Vancouver goalie Kevin Lankinen at 1:22.

This is MacKinnon’s second 50-goal year of his career, along with the 51 he racked up two seasons ago. He’s the third player in franchise history to reach the milestone twice. Avs president Joe Sakic did so in 1995-96 and 2000-01. Michel Goulet did it four years in a row, from 1982-86, while the franchise was based in Quebec City.

That was the high-water mark for the Avs on this night. Teddy Blueger scored his first of the night while short-handed at 5:21. It was the Avs’ league-leading 13th short-handed goal against.

Jake DeBrusk made it 3-1 with a power-play goal at 11:38. Avs captain Gabe Landeskog tipped a Burns shot past Lankinen late in the first to get Colorado back within a goal, but it got worse in the middle period.

Blueger scored the second five-hole goal of the night on Blackwood to make it 4-2. Then Boeser potted a pair — one on a one-timer after poor defensive coverage and one on a long wrist shot through a screen.

That was the end of Blackwood’s night, with 4:39 left in the second and the Avs down 6-2. Blackwood allowed six goals on 19 shots. It is the third time in six games this season that Colorado’s goalie has been pulled while wearing the throwback Quebec Nordiques uniforms.