Read the reports from Thursday’s games in the NHL.
Consult the meeting summaries
Nathan MacKinnon provided two assists to set an Avalanche record with 140 points in a season Thursday as Colorado won 5-1 at the expense of the Edmonton Oilers.
Author of 51 goals and 89 assists, MacKinnon beat Peter Stastny’s mark established in 1981-82 with the Quebec Nordiques by one point.
Valeri Nichushkin (twice), Mikko Rantanen, Josh Manson and Zach Parise were the Avalanche’s scorers, while Justus Annunen made 25 saves.
Colorado led the National League with 31 home wins this season.
Dylan Holloway scored the Oilers goal.
In addition to the absence of Connor McDavid, the Oilers were also without Mattias Ekholm, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard and Evander Kane.
This group provided nearly 70% of the team’s points during the season.
Stuart Skinner allowed four goals on 13 shots in the first period. Calvin Pickard was subsequently beaten once in 13 shots.
In the crowd were the University of Denver Pioneers, the NCAA men’s hockey champions. They were warmly applauded during the first third.
The Oilers’ opponents in the first round will be the Los Angeles Kings.
The Avalanche will first face the Winnipeg Jets, in a series which will begin in Manitoba.
Pat Graham, Associated Press
Jets finish regular season with eighth straight win
PHOTO TERRENCE LEE, USA TODAY SPORTS
Dylan DeMelo (2) and Laurent Boissoit (39) of the Jets at the end of the game.
Nikita Chibrikov scored the decisive goal in his first NHL game on Thursday, guiding the Winnipeg Jets to a 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.
From behind the net, Nino Niederreter passed at the bottom of the left circle to the 21-year-old Russian, who hit the mark with a wrist shot.
It was an eighth straight win for the Jets, obtained ahead of 10e full house of the season at the Canada Life Centre.
Winnipeg finished the campaign allowing a league-best 199 goals (one fewer goals allowed than the Florida Panthers).
Cole Perfetti completed an empty-net double for the Jets, who led Canadian teams with 110 points this season.
Gabriel Vilardi was the other scorer for the winners.
Laurent Brossoit made 18 saves, being beaten by Elias Lindholm and Conor Garland.
Thatcher Demko blocked 22 shots for the Canucks.
The Jets will host the Colorado Avalanche at the start of the first round of the playoffs. Match dates have not yet been announced.
The Canucks will host the Nashville Predators when this first round series begins, the schedule of which remains to be established.
Judy Owen, The Canadian Press
Frank Vatrano scores hat trick against Golden Knights
PHOTO STEPHEN R. SYLVANIE, USA TODAY SPORTS
Frank Vatrano
Frank Vatrano scored a hat trick and the Anaheim Ducks ended the season on a high note on Thursday, winning 4-1 against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Combined with the Kings’ win against the Hawks, the setback pushed the Knights from third place in their section to the last of two additional playoff spots in the West.
In the first round, the confrontations will be Vegas-Dallas and Los Angeles-Edmonton.
Vatrano set a career high with a season of 37 goals. He has six career hat tricks, half of them this season.
Jackson LaCombe had the other goal for the Ducks and Lukas Dostal made 29 saves.
Jack Eichel fought back for the Golden Knights, who had won three straight. Adin Hill blocked 19 shots.
In Los Angeles, Adrian Kempe scored in overtime and the Kings beat Chicago 5-4.
Viktor Arvidsson (twice), Quinton Byfield and Trevor Moore scored the other Kings goals.
Tyler Johnson, Joey Anderson, Ryan Donato and Lukas Reichel scored for the Blackhawks.
Associated Press
The Kraken beats the Wild
PHOTO ABBIE PARR, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Wild players greet their fans at the end of the game.
Tye Kartye deflected an Oliver Bjorkstrand slap shot into the goal to break a tie with 2:40 left in regulation and the Seattle Kraken defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Thursday in a game marking the end of both teams’ seasons.
Yanni Gourde scored into an empty net for the Kraken before seeing the Wild cut the deficit to one goal again. Ryan Hartman scored at six on four with 65 seconds left and with goaltender Marc-André Fleury on the bench. However, Kraken goalie Joey Daccord finally managed to close the door at the end of the game.
Brandon Tanev, who had assists on both Gourde goals in the third period, blocked a shot at the very end of the game and writhed in pain on the ice.
Kirill Kaprizov scored his 46e power play goal of the season in the first period and Mats Zuccarello tied it 2-2 midway through the third period for the Wild.
Matty Beniers tied the game 1-1 for the Kraken in the second period on the power play.
Daccord stopped 21 shots in front of the Kraken net. For his part, Fleury made 23 saves.
Dave Campbell, Associated Press
reference: www.lapresse.ca