Two nights after a resounding performance, the Avalanche offered up its 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.
“It’s too long of a list,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said of what went wrong in the first two periods.
This result came just two nights after the Avs overwhelmed the Calgary Flames in a 9-2 victory.
Center Curtis Douglas (42) of the Vancouver Canucks and defenseman Nick Blankenburg (37) of the Colorado Avalanche are at the center of a brawl during the second period on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, at Ball Arena in Denver. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/The Denver Post)
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.
“Hockey is a funny game sometimes,” Avs forward Brock Nelson said. “Every night is not going to be perfect. The other night the start was about as picture-perfect as it gets. Today was probably the anti that. You have to find different ways to claw your way back into it and win games.”
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.
“I liked the way we played in the third, but the reality of it is if you want to win in this league you have to play that way for 60 minutes,” Bednar said. “We weren’t even close. It wasn’t a great first and it got worst in the second.
“If you want to hand out badges for good effort … I think we are beyond that this time of year.”
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.
Teddy Blueger scored his first of the night while shorthanded at 5:21. It was the Avs’ league-leading 13th shorthanded 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 seven games this season that Colorado’s goalie has been pulled while wearing the throwback Quebec Nordiques uniforms.
“He was one of 20,” Bednar said. “That’s all I can say. He was one of 20 guys that wasn’t good enough.”
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