Aarif Deen
Nathan MacKinnon has been under the weather for two games. He had three points against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday and followed it up with two more goals in Tuesday’s 3-1 triumph over the Vancouver Canucks.
Even an illness can’t bring down the league’s top goal-scorer and point producer.
“It’s been a grind. Montreal was hell. Tonight was a little better,” MacKinnon said postgame. “Just tired. Just tired. Been sitting around the last few days.”
In years past, dealing with an illness that’s making its way through the room may have been enough to throw the Avs off their game, at least for a night. Gabe Landeksog, Parker Kelly, and MacKinnon are three guys we know for sure have been under the weather, and there might be more.
Also, in years past, an injury to a goalie playing as well as Scott Wedgewood might’ve sunk the team. Again, at least for one game.
But adversity has tried, and failed, to bring down Colorado this season. Through 26 games, the Avalanche are 19-1-6, and became just the second team in league history to go this long into the season with only one regulation loss.
READ MORE: The Aftermath: Avalanche Avoid Serious Injury in Latest Victory At Ball Arena
10 Observations
1. Landeskog and Brock Nelson have dominated for Colorado in recent weeks. In the last 10 games, they have 10 and 12 points, respectively. Even with Valeri Nichushkin returning, neither Landeskog or the third piece of that line, Ross Colton, were demoted to the bottom six for Nichushkin.
At some point, Nichushkin will be back in the top six. But there’s no reason to change things up. Not when that trio is playing this well.
“I thought they were great again. That’s why I didn’t put Val on it, because they’ve been really good here in the recent past,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “Production is coming, dangerous every night. They seem to have some good chemistry. So yeah, if they keep playing like that, it’ll stay like that.”
2. How nice is it for the them to have that luxury? I often think back to the 2023-25 seasons, when, for example, Nichushkin or Artturi Lehkonen have returned from injuries. They’re usually inserted right back into a top-line role and are playing 20+ minutes. The team never had the depth to let them ease back in.
Bednar doesn’t need to do that this year. Traditionally, it usually takes Nichushking two or three games to figure things out after a lengthy absence. Bednar can actually allow him to take his time.
Nichushkin had two shots and was a +1 in 12:50 of ice time. He was the catalyst of the first MacKinnon goal.
3. I think everyone in Denver, and perhaps even Team Canada’s management, breathed a sigh of relief when Bednar gave us an update on Wedgewood’s status.
It sounds like it was a precautionary pull. Wedgewood traveling for the road trip is a good sign. If they don’t call up another goalie to go with them, it would be an even better sign. I’m sure Mackenzie Blackwood is getting the nod on Thursday either way. But if Wedgewood backs him up, it means he’s healthy enough to play without missing any time. We’ll have to wait and see.
“He tightened up a little bit. His back. Thought we’d take him out. Better safe than sorry,” Bednar said. “Nothing too serious at this point.”
4. I was surprised that Bednar was open to discussing the injury. It sounds like he didn’t want to ring any alarm bells, either.
I bet he would’ve been more secretive if it was a serious injury.
5. It’s going to take quite the run for Colorado to surpass the Philadelphia Flyers for the longest start to a season with just one regulation loss.
The Avs are 19-1-6 in 26 games. The record from the 1979-80 Flyers is a whopping 37 games (26-1-10)
6. Blackwood played 27:32 and saw only 10 shots to earn the win. Team defense. Top notch.
7. Colton is playing his most consistent stretch of hockey in Colorado since arriving 2+ years ago via trade.
I’ll be the first to admit that I was wrong to wonder about him getting traded over the past 12 months. He’s been miscast and overused, and he’s dealt with injuries. Now he’s playing the role he had in Tampa Bay — the one that made him so successful and a Stanley Cup champion.
8. I’m still keeping an eye on this because it fascinates me with each passing game. Last year, MacKinnon had 32 goals in 79 games in the regular season. Since then, he’s scored seven in seven playoff games and has 22 in 26 games this season.
Add it all up. MacKinnon has 29 goals in his last 33 games. Incredible
9. Bednar was asked if this is peak MacKinnon. It’s a high bar to pass. But the response from the head coach said a lot about the standard this team has right now.
“Nate was one of the guys that was sick. I don’t think he was at his best tonight on the checking side of it, and that because that takes a lot of energy and a lot of hard work,” Bednar said. “But here’s the thing, you don’t gotta make every play, but you gotta make some big plays. So that’s what Nate can do, even when he’s not at his best.”
10. Kiefer Sherwood is the talk of the trade market right now, and for good reason. Since the start of the 2024-25 season, he has 100+ more hits than the rest of the league. And he’s scoring a lot. I also think he’s starting to build that pest reputation around the league. And I mean that as a compliment.
Against the Avs, it felt like Colorado’s guys were trying their best to knock him down at every chance they got. There was a play in the third period where Brent Burns hit him, then pinned him down for an extra second using his stick before allowing Sherwood to get back up.
Sherwood had four hits in this game.