Colorado Avalanche superstar defenseman Cale Makar added his name to National Hockey League lore on Thursday night, scoring his 30th goal of the campaign in a 7-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. He's just the ninth blue liner to accomplish the feat, and first since Mike Green did it in 2008-09, the NHL confirmed.

The 26-year-old continues to make a foolproof case for what would be his second Norris Trophy in 2024-25; he leads all defensemen with 30 goals, 60 assists and 90 points over just 77 games.

Makar took a slick pass from league leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon and blasted a one-timer past Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins. The Avalanche ended up winning the game handily, improving to 47-26-4 in the process.

And the former fourth overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft added two assists for good measure as the Avalanche clinched a berth in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He's up to 116 goals and 426 points in 392 career games.

“It’s a great stat but definitely not getting there without these guys,” Makar said afterwards, per NHL.com's Craig Merz. “It’s a lot of effort from them getting me the puck and getting my chances, a couple of them.”

The only other defensemen to score 30 in a campaign are Paul Coffey (four times), Denis Potvin (three times), Bobby Orr (five times), Ray Bourque, Phil Housley and Doug Wilson. Coffey owns the single-season record with 48, which he set in the midst of the Edmonton Oilers dynasty back in 1985-86.

Makar won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best D-man back in 2021-22 — the same year he helped the franchise win its third Stanley Cup championship. Colorado defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games, and Makar earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

He's been a Norris finalist every year since winning the Calder Trophy in his rookie campaign back in 2019-20.

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“It's definitely nice to have him on your side instead of going against him,” forward Parker Kelly, who scored in the victory, said of Makar. “Just a special player, super humble. Just super happy for Cale and a really cool milestone to see in person.”

Avalanche headed back to postseason for 8th straight year

With five games left in the regular-season, Makar and the Avalanche will play either the Mikko Rantanen-led Dallas Stars or Western Conference-leading Winnipeg Jets in Round 1.

The Central Division is a behemoth, but the Avalanche are hoping to be the last team left standing in both the division and Western Conference come June.

“We're obviously really happy that we secured that (playoff) spot,” Colorado head coach Jared Bednar said, per Merz. “That's the first step and the first goal that you kind of set in training camp, and it takes a long time to get here and a lot of hard work, but proud of our guys for accomplishing that and doing it in under tough circumstances, coming in here tonight on the back-to-back.”

An excellent test awaits for Makar and the Avalanche against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night. The Blues have won a franchise-record 11 consecutive games, and Colorado will look to make sure it doesn't reach 12 at the Enterprise Center in Missouri.