Avalanche blowout Blue Jackets, clinch eighth straight playoff berth
Apr 3, 2025, 8:22 PM
The Colorado Avalanche are going back to the playoffs.
That’s felt like a formality for months, but it became official on Thursday night as the Avs blasted the Columbus Blue Jackets by a final score of 7-3. Colorado improved its record to 47-26-4, good for 98 points with five games still to go.
It’s the eighth straight year the Avalanche have made the playoffs, the longest streak since the franchise made it 11 years in a row between the start of the 1994 season (as the Quebec Nordiques ) and the end of the 2006 season.
Built for this. #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/54zZ1dAMZJ
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 4, 2025
Colorado superstar Cale Makar made history in Columbus, becoming just the ninth defenseman in NHL history to score 30 goals in a season. Makar’s goal made it 5-3 late in the second period, and the Avalanche never looked back.
On the night they got tallies from Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson, Charlie Coyle, Parker Kelly, Makar, Devon Toews and Miles Wood. Both Nelson and Coyle were trade deadline additions, and it was the first goal for Coyle in an Avalanche sweater.
It looks like Colorado will play Dallas in the first-round of the playoffs, although the Stars could still track down the Winnipeg Jets and win the Central Division. The Avs are comfortably ahead of Minnesota and St. Louis to avoid a wild card spot, but well behind Dallas and Winnipeg to potentially move up.
At the end of the day, these guys don’t care about seeding. They have the third best odds in the NHL to win the Stanley Cup, and are largely thought of as one of the most dangerous teams in the league.
All eight playoff appearances in a row have been led by head coach Jared Bednar, with the highlight being when the Avalanche won it all in 2022. However, under Bednar they’ve only made it past the second-round one time, which was the year they hoisted the best trophy in sports.
The journey toward another championship will begin on April 19 or 20, with a full Round 1 playoff schedule set to be released in about two weeks. Until then, Colorado is in the dance, and that’s step one on the way to doing something special.
