For the first time since late November, the Detroit Red Wings have lost three games in a row.

Saturday, Nathan MacKinnon scored twice as the Colorado Avalanche blanked the Red Wings 5-0.

Coupled with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday and a 3-1 setback against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, Detroit went 0-2-1 during a three-game homestand. It’s the worst performance by the team since a 0-3-1 slump from November 24-29.

Brent Burns, the NHL’s oldest player at 40 years of age, opened the scoring for Colorado, beating Detroit goalie John Gibson high on the glove side. It was his 270th NHL goal, tying him with Bobby Orr for seventh spot on the all-time goal-scoring list among NHL defensemen.

What a shot by Brent Burns for his ninth of the season! 🎯

The oldest player in the NHL still has it!

📺: ABC pic.twitter.com/F3Mtwvw4fl

— NHL (@NHL) January 31, 2026

MacKinnon made it 2-0 when his long shot through traffic eluded Gibson.

Nathan MacKinnon has a goal and an assist halfway through the first period!

Wait for the Detroit fan’s reaction 😬

Watch Avalanche-Red Wings on ABC and the ESPN App 🏒 pic.twitter.com/kGHpnP7V7p

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 31, 2026

In the second period, Ross Colton increased Colorado’s margin to 3-0 before MacKinnon netted his second of the game.

Parker Kelly made it 5-0 Avalanche in the third period.

Gibson allowed four goals in two periods before giving way to Cam Talbot for the third period.

Colorado goalie Mackenzie Blackwood made ?? saves for the 17th shutout of his NHL career.

Red Wings Takeaways

Detroit coach Todd McLellan juggled all three of his defense pairings. Albert Johansson joined Moritz Seider in the top pairing. Ben Chiarot and Jacob Bernard-Docker formed the second tandem. It was Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Erik Gustafsson in the third duo. Travis Hamonic was scratched . . . McLellan moved Mason Appleton up to right wing on the third line, dropping James van Riemsdyk down to the fourth line . . . Burns played his 1,550th NHL game, tying long-time Red Wings captain Alex Delvecchio for 16th on the all-time NHL games played list.

Key Moment

Giving up a pair of first-period goals, the Red Wings fell behind by multiple goals for the third successive game. It was also the sixth time in nine games that Detroit had surrendered the first goal.

Key Stat

Colorado is 14-0-1 in its last 15 games against Detroit.

Up Next For Red Wings

The Red Wings and Avalanche meet again on Monday in Colorado. Game time is 9 p.m. ET.