Cale Makar added to his long list of accolades in his short NHL career during Monday’s 3-2 Avalanche shootout victory over the Dallas Stars.
The 23-year-old defenseman recorded his 200th NHL point in 195 games at American Airlines Center, smashing the previous record for the fastest blueliner to reach the milestone by 12. The previous record was held by Sergei Zubov, who needed 207 games.
“It doesn’t really mean a lot individually,” Makar told Altitude TV following the first period. “I think this is more of a team thing. I don’t get to that point without these guys.”
Makar scored the opening tally on the power play. It was his fifth of the season and third on the man advantage, where the Avs are an NHL-best 34.5 percent. Colorado was 1-for-6 on the power play in Monday’s victory and had a 6-1 advantage in opportunities.
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Playing his fourth full season in the NHL, Makar already has accomplished more than what many fail to achieve in an entire career. His Hall-of-Fame-worthy resume includes the Calder Trophy in 2020 as rookie of the year and a long list of accolades in 2022.
Makar won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman, the Conn Smythe as the playoff MVP, and the Stanley Cup. He also had 86 regular-season points and 29 in just 20 postseason games.
Through 17 games this year, Makar is tied for third among defensemen in points (20).
Young forward Alex Newhook also scored for Colorado, which led 1-0 and 2-1 before surrendering the game-tying goal to Stars superstar Jason Robertson with just 25.8 seconds remaining in regulation. The teams played five minutes of scoreless overtime hockey before the Avs sealed the win in the shootout thanks to Mikko Rantanen’s lone tally.
During the overtime period, the Avs had a full 4-on-3 power play but were unable to find the back of the net.
The Avs are 2-0 in the shootout this season, both of which were won by goalie Alexandar Georgiev.
The Avs managed to walk away with a perfect 3-0 record during their road trip despite continuing to deal with a laundry list of notable injuries. Following an overtime victory in Carolina and a regulation win in Washington, the Avs completed the trip by surrendering just four goals while scoring 10. They improve to 7-1 in their last eight games after starting the year 4-4-1.
Colorado returns home on Wednesday to host the Vancouver Canucks in just the seventh of 18 games at Ball Arena this season.
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Aarif Deen is our Colorado Avalanche beat reporter. He covers Avs games live from Ball Arena and attends practices, media availabilities and other events pertaining to the Avs on the daily beat. He is also a co-host of Hockey Mountain High: Your go-to Avalanche Podcast. Deen joined Mile High Sports upon completing his bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in business administration from the University of Michigan – Dearborn. Before Mile High Sports, Deen worked as the assistant sports information director for the Michigan Wolverines Athletics Department.