Hockeytown turned into Shutout City.

Nathan MacKinnon recorded a three-point night, scoring two goals and adding an assist to become the first NHL player this season to reach 40 goals, Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 28 shots for his 17th career shutout, and the Colorado Avalanche blanked the Detroit Red Wings 5-0 on Saturday afternoon at Little Caesars Arena.

But that wasn’t the only milestone of the day. Brent Burns, the oldest active player in the NHL, scored to tie Bobby Orr for seventh on the all-time goals list among defensemen. Ross Colton found the back of the net for the second straight game, and Parker Kelly also lit the lamp for Colorado.

Detroit finished the night with more shots on goal, 28–17, but this time it was Colorado’s opponent getting the goalied treatment. John Gibson allowed four goals on 17 shots in the loss. He was pulled late for Cam Talbot, who allowed a goal on four shots faced.

Burns got the party started just 6:44 into the game after MacKinnon shoveled a pass to him following a broken play at the point. Burns walked the puck in and snapped a shot over Gibson’s glove to give Colorado the early lead.

Shortly after, Josh Manson was sent to the box for holding Andrew Copp, but Colorado’s penalty kill—struggling in recent games—successfully killed off the infraction.

MacKinnon then took control, maneuvering around two defenders and circling the offensive zone before finding an opening. He fired a wrister off the post and in to make it 2-0, giving him a goal and an assist just over 10 minutes into the game.

Colorado continued to apply pressure, and with about nine minutes remaining in the period, Kelly ripped a slap shot that rang off the post, leaving the Avs inches away from a 3-0 lead. With 3:15 left in the period, Kelly was sent to the penalty box after former Av J.T. Compher stepped on his stick and went down, drawing a tripping call and giving Detroit its second power play of the night.

1:24 into the second period, Brock Nelson, after being knocked to the ice along the boards, recovered the puck and fed a perfect pass to Colton, who beat Gibson to make it 3-0. After going 20 games without a goal, Colton has now scored in back-to-back contests.

Just over a minute later, the Avalanche went on the power play after Erik Gustafsson tripped Kelly and sent him airborne. Despite several chances—including a MacKinnon setup for Valeri Nichushkin on a backdoor tap-in—the Avs were unable to convert.

Following a neutral-zone turnover, Colorado countered quickly, with Artturi Lehkonen setting up MacKinnon for a one-timer from the left circle. MacKinnon blasted it past Gibson for his NHL-leading 40th goal of the season with 6:27 remaining in the period.

With 2:47 left, Compher gave the Avalanche another power play after tripping Kelly. Earlier in the game, Kelly had been penalized for tripping Compher. The Avs nearly broke their power-play drought, but MacKinnon missed a wide-open net that would have completed the hat trick. Detroit responded with a 2-on-1 rush, but Emmitt Finnie rang a shot off the post. Moments later, a fight erupted behind the net, with Nelson and Compher assessed matching minors.

Blackwood was outstanding all night, but his best save came around the seven-minute mark of the third period, when he robbed James van Riemsdyk with a clean glove save. A fortunate bounce left the puck on van Riemsdyk’s tape, but the shot went straight into Blackwood’s glove.

On the very next play, Colorado put the game out of reach. Kelly jammed one home to make it 5-0. Jack Drury dumped the puck in from the point, Joel Kiviranta got a stick on it and slid it to Kelly, who attempted to deke past Cam Talbot, who replaced Gibson late. The initial shot was stopped by the pad, but Kelly stayed with it, whacking away on the backhand until the puck crossed the goal line.

The goal was Kelly’s 12th of the season, continuing what has been a career-best campaign.

With five minutes left in regulation, the Red Wings had outshot the Avalanche 27-20, but they still hadn’t scored. It wasn’t for a lack of effort—they were simply getting goalied.

The Avalanche badly needed this win after a pair of subpar performances. Now, the focus shifts to whether Colorado can build another winning streak and recapture some of the early-season dominance that made them so dangerous.

It's a rematch! The Avalanche (36-8-9) will square off against the Red Wings (32-17-6) again, but this time at Ball Arena on Monday. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. local time.