The Colorado Avalanche aren’t just winning hockey games this season - they’re steamrolling the competition.
With a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, the Avs improved to a jaw-dropping 19-1-6. That’s not a typo.
That’s a team collecting points in 25 of its first 26 games. In a league built on parity and razor-thin margins, this kind of dominance feels like something out of a video game - and not one set on “All-Star” difficulty.
And it’s not just about the wins. It’s how they’re doing it.
This team is running up the score on quality opponents. Just ask the Montreal Canadiens, who were blitzed 7-2 on Saturday, or the Edmonton Oilers, Western Conference finalists the last two years, who got humbled 9-1 back in November.
Colorado isn’t just beating good teams - they’re dismantling them.
Right now, the Avalanche are on pace for 60 wins and 139 points. That would be an NHL record.
Only four teams in league history have ever hit the 60-win mark, and just one - the 2022-23 Boston Bruins - has cracked 135 points. Colorado’s current trajectory puts them in rarefied air.
Only one other team in NHL history has reached this point in the season with just one regulation loss: the 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers, who started 18-1-7. That Flyers team went on an astonishing 35-game unbeaten streak. That’s the kind of company the Avs are keeping right now.
And here’s the kicker: Colorado is getting better as the season goes on. They’re riding a 14-0-2 stretch, with six of those wins coming in games where they’ve scored at least six goals. That’s not just hot - that’s historic.
Around the league, players are taking notice. After a 6-0 shutout loss to the Avalanche in Denver, San Jose rookie Macklin Celebrini didn’t mince words: “They’re a great hockey team … Obviously, they’re the best team in the league.” Hard to argue when the scoreboard backs it up every night.
To put this run into perspective, you have to dig deep into the NHL archives. Only four other teams have posted this many points through 26 games: the 2002 Red Wings, 2013 Blackhawks, 1984 Oilers, and 1944 Canadiens - all Stanley Cup winners. And while the 2022-23 Bruins set the all-time points record, they also serve as a cautionary tale after flaming out in the first round.
Still, what makes Colorado’s start even more impressive is the context. The rest of the NHL is bunched up in a parity-heavy logjam.
Even the second-place team, the Dallas Stars, is currently projected to finish 21 points behind the Avs. That’s a canyon-sized gap in today’s NHL.
Let’s talk numbers. The Avs have scored 106 goals and allowed just 53 - a +53 goal differential through 26 games.
That’s the 11th-best mark in league history at this point in a season. They’re averaging 4.08 goals per game and giving up just 2.04, leading the NHL in both categories.
No team has finished a season leading in both goals for and against since the Canadiens dynasty teams of the 1970s. That’s the level we’re talking about.
At the heart of this two-way dominance? Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar - two elite players having career years at the same time.
MacKinnon is on pace for 69 goals and 145 points. That’s not just MVP-caliber - that’s potentially a season for the ages.
Makar, meanwhile, is tracking toward a 101-point season from the blue line. Only one defenseman in the last 34 years has hit the century mark, and Makar’s doing it while anchoring the league’s best defensive unit.
But this isn’t just about the stars. The Avs have gotten a major boost from Brock Nelson, added at last season’s trade deadline.
He’s emerged as a Selke Trophy candidate with his two-way play. And in net, Scott Wedgewood has been rock solid, giving Colorado the kind of stability in goal that championship teams lean on.
Here’s perhaps the most mind-blowing stat of all: the Avalanche have earned at least one point in 25 of their 26 games. That kind of consistency is almost unheard of. Even if you strip away the six overtime/shootout loss points, they’d still be on pace for 120 points - a mark that usually wins the Presidents’ Trophy.
Their lone regulation loss? A 3-2 defeat in Boston on October 25, where they actually outshot and outplayed the Bruins but ran into a red-hot Jeremy Swayman.
That’s it. One night where the puck didn’t bounce their way.
Since 1982, only two other teams have started a season this hot and kept it going for this long: the 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning and the 2022 Avalanche. Both went on to win the Cup. The 1970s Canadiens and Bobby Orr’s Bruins also make appearances on the list of teams with similar starts - and those squads are etched in hockey lore.
Now, can the Avs keep this up? That’s the big question.
They currently lead the league in PDO - a stat that combines shooting percentage and save percentage - which often hints at some regression to the mean. At some point, the bounces may stop going their way.
But even if the pace cools off a bit, what Colorado has done through two months is undeniable. They’ve planted their flag as the Stanley Cup front-runner and carved out a spot in NHL history - and the season is just getting started.