The Colorado Avalanche are heading into Saturday night with some real lineup uncertainty, but Brent Burns is about to hit a milestone that puts him in rare company.
Against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre, Burns will skate in his 1,600th regular-season game, according to NHL stats. That makes him just the 14th player in NHL history to get there and only the sixth defenseman to do it.
The number that may stand out even more is the one tied to his durability. Burns will be playing in his 1,027th consecutive game, the second-longest streak in NHL history. Phil Kellel owns the record at 1,064 straight games, and Burns could still pass that mark this season.
For a player drafted in the first round of the 2003 NHL Draft by the Minnesota Wild, the path has been long and steady from the start. He jumped right into the league and eventually built a reputation as one of hockey’s most productive offensive defensemen.
That peak showed up in San Jose, where Burns won the Norris Trophy in 2017. He later moved on to the Carolina Hurricanes before joining the Avalanche during the 2025-26 season.
Colorado took a shot on the veteran, and he answered it. In his first season with the club, Burns posted 12 goals and 23 assists for 35 points in 82 games, and he finished with a career-best plus-33 rating. The Avalanche responded in June with a one-year contract extension.
Now, with Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon both out for Saturday after leaving Thursday night’s game against the Ottawa Senators in the second period, Burns’ role matters even more. Colorado is also still without Josh Manson, who is expected to remain sidelined until almost January because of an ankle injury.
With Makar unavailable, the Avalanche will need other defensemen to absorb more responsibility. Burns is one of the players expected to help fill that gap.
Head coach Jared Bednar had already been working through some changes on the blue line that seemed to be paying off, but the injuries force even more adjustment. Burns’ experience becomes a bigger asset in that kind of situation.
Saturday will be about more than just another game for him. It will mark a career built on production, consistency, and staying on the ice long enough to reach a level very few players ever touch.
In Other News...
Avalanche Head To Montreal With A Massive MacKinnon Makar Concern
The Avalanche left Ottawa with more than a loss to sort through, as Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar both exited with lower-body injuries and their availability for the next stop in Montreal is now up in the air. For a Colorado team that leans heavily on both stars in every situation, the timing could hardly be worse, and coach Jared Bednar offered no postgame update to ease the concern.
Montreal is waiting with a little momentum of its own after a 5-2 win over Boston, and rookie goaltender Jacob Fowler has continued to build on a strong start to his season. Even so, the Canadiens confidence will matter less to Colorado than the status of its two biggest names, because the matchup changes quickly if either MacKinnon or Makar cannot go. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Suddenly Face A Brutal Test With MacKinnon Sidelined
The Avalanche are suddenly staring at a stretch they would rather not have to navigate, with Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar both expected to be out for some time after injuries suffered against the Ottawa Senators. For a team built around elite pace and high-end skill, losing two of its most important players at once changes the look of everything, from the top line to the power play and the overall margin for error.
It puts extra pressure on the rest of the roster to hold the line while Colorado waits for its stars to get healthy again. The timing is especially awkward because the Avalanche have been leaning on their core to drive results, and now they have to find a way to stay afloat without two players who shape so much of what they do. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Showed One Encouraging Sign In A Frustrating Overtime Loss
The Avalanche left Canadian Tire Centre with a frustrating 4-3 overtime loss to the Senators, but there was at least one encouraging sign buried in the result. Colorado dug out of a 2-0 hole with goals from Artturi Lehkonen, Parker Kelly and Gabriel Landeskog, showing the kind of push-back that had been missing at times when games have started to slip away.
Jared Bednar had reason to point to the special teams and the overall effort as positives, even if the standings reward went to Ottawa after Shane Pinto ended it in overtime. For a team trying to stack better habits on top of better results, the comeback mattered almost as much as the point it cost them, because it showed the Avalanche can still find a way back into a game when it starts to tilt the wrong direction. [Read more 🡒]