Boeser Hat Trick Lifts Canucks Past Avalanche In Chaos-Filled 8–6 Win

DENVER — Marcus Pettersson broke a late tie with 5:39 remaining, Brock Boeser recorded a hat trick, and the last-place Vancouver Canucks defeated the Colorado Avalanche 8–6 on Wednesday night after surrendering a four-goal lead.

Vancouver, which entered the contest trailing Colorado by 58 points in the standings, generated offense in every situation—at even strength, on the power play, short-handed, and into an empty net—while snapping a six-game losing streak.

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Boeser added an empty-net goal to complete his hat trick. Teddy Blueger chipped in two goals, while Max Sasson and Jake DeBrusk also scored. Goaltender Kevin Lankinen made 24 saves to help secure the win.

On the other side, Nathan MacKinnon reached the 50-goal mark for the second time in his career, becoming the first player in the league this season to hit that milestone. Sam Malinski scored twice, and Gabriel Landeskog, Parker Kelly, and Brent Burns also tallied.

Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood was pulled with 4:39 left in the second period after allowing six goals on 19 shots. Scott Wedgewood entered in relief and stopped four of five shots faced.

The Avalanche entered the matchup riding momentum from a 9–2 win over Calgary earlier in the week but were forced to adjust defensively with Cale Makar sidelined by an upper-body injury, a gap Vancouver consistently exploited.

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Burns contributed a goal and an assist while appearing in his 999th consecutive NHL game, continuing one of the league’s longest active ironman streaks. The all-time record remains 1,064 straight games, held by Phil Kessel.

Vancouver struck just 29 seconds into the game when Sasson slipped a shot through the five-hole to make it 1–0. After a rink-wide pass deflected off a defender’s stick, he jumped on the loose puck, beat the defense with speed, and finished the play.

Colorado answered quickly, as MacKinnon snapped a shot past Lankinen to tie the game with his 50th goal of the season.

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