Makar scores to reach rare milestone and Avalanche beat Blue Jackets 7-3 to secure playoff spot

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Cale Makar scored to become just the ninth NHL defenseman with 30 goals in a season and the Colorado Avalanche clinched a playoff berth with a 7-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.

Makar also had two assists while Charlie Coyle, Nathan MacKinnon and Devon Toews also had a goal and two assists each for the Avalanche, who scored five straight times after falling behind 3-2 in the second period.

Miles Wood, Parker Kelly and Brock Nelson also scored for Colorado while Mackenzie Blackwood made 27 saves.

Sean Monahan, Zachary Aston-Reese and Boone Jenner scored for the Blue Jackets and Elvis Merzlikins made 21 saves before being lifted with about 14 minutes to play.

The Avalanche secured a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs with the win, their second in two nights after beating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in a shootout on Wednesday.

The Blue Jackets needed a win to stay close in the chase for an Eastern Conference wild card, but the loss coupled with Montreal's win over Boston put them four points behind the Canadiens.

After Jenner extended his points streak to six games with a second-period goal that gave Columbus a 3-2 lead, Coyle and Kelly scored just 1:23 apart later in the period to give Colorado the lead for good.

With his goal, Makar became just the ninth NHL defenseman and first since Washington’s Mike Green in the 2008-2009 season to reach the 30-goal mark in a season. Makar put the Avalanche up 5-2 by scoring a power-play goal with 38 seconds left in the second period.

Columbus forward Zach Aston-Reese scored his fifth goal of the season and first since Nov. 15 — a span of 58 games.

The Avalanche finish a three-game road trip at the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night. The Blue Jackets visit the Toronto Maple Leafs, also on Saturday night.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon prepares for a face off in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Los Angeles Kings Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

DENVER (AP) — People in Colorado will soon have to pass a background check and complete a state-sanctioned safety course to buy most semiautomatic guns with detachable magazines under a bill signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday.

Colorado, which has seen some of the country’s worst mass shootings — including the 2022 killings at the LGBTQ+ nightspot Club Q in Colorado Springs and the 1999 Columbine High School massacre — joins nearly a dozen other states in requiring some level of safety training or an exam to purchase a firearm.

One of the most restrictive gun control measures to be passed in the state as part of a long-running Democratic campaign to curtail gun violence, the law takes full effect in August 2026.

Previous attempts at securing an all-out ban on certain semiautomatic guns, as has been done in deeply Democratic states including New York and California, floundered in more purple Colorado where many including the governor have something of a libertarian streak.

The proposal was watered down from a ban on the manufacture and sale of semiautomatics with detachable magazines, including rifles and some pistols. Proponents argued that allowing only permanently attached magazines would force a would-be shooter to reload bullet by bullet.

The final bill as signed is a concession to Polis and other Democrats wary of going too far.

Republicans opposed the measure, saying it is effectively a ban on the weapons and infringes on Second Amendment rights.

Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

FILE - Colorado Gov. Jared Polis speaks during the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)