Great players will always find a way to get noticed and even in an average game by his personal standards, Nathan MacKinnon managed to write his name in the Colorado Avalanche record books twice.
The Nova Scotian scored four times against the poor Ottawa Senators on Thursday night in Denver. No “Avs” player had accomplished this feat of arms in the past.
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MacKinnon also reached the 300-goal mark in his 742nd game in the National Hockey League. In the rich history of the Avalanche and the Quebec Nordiques, only Joe Sakic (625), Michel Goulet (456), Peter Stastny (380) and Milan Hejduk (375) have scored more than him.
“It’s quite remarkable, with all the players who have been here. I’m happy for him, said MacKinnon’s great attacking accomplice, Mikko Rantanen, in the press scrum. […] I think it’s the best I’ve seen him play. His way of playing, skating and making plays made life difficult for opponents, and he defended well…”
Rantanen can say whatever he wants, but his teammate doesn’t entirely agree with his words. He believes he was lucky, recognizing that he was in the right place at the right time.
“I feel like I’ve played better games, but I scored some goals tonight. I brushed a puck, another hit my pad and [j’ai marqué] in a deserted net. So sometimes it seems easy, but sometimes it’s harder. Tonight it was easy,” admitted number 29.
Respond to reviews
Tuesday’s defeat against the Chicago Blackhawks prompted defenseman Devon Toews to come out publicly to shake up the troops. He had criticized the inconsistency and overconfidence of his teammates and himself.
His message was heard, except in the second period. Head coach Jared Bednar has certainly brought his men back to order in the locker room.
“The second period was terrible,” he said, thinking of the Senators’ two goals in 21 shots. […] We lacked attention to detail during this period. Look at the number of scoring chances we gave. It was ridiculous. I think there was probably a time when [Alexandar Georgiev] would like to review the sequence, but he then made several big saves and he had our backs when we got into trouble with the penalties.
Bednar continued by praising the work of MacKinnon and Rantanen, saying he was asking a lot from his first line completed by Valeri Nichushkin.
“They’re probably a little frustrated with the way we played in the second, but tonight they responded,” he said. They continued to work and did what was necessary to get us out of poverty.”
The Avalanche will play a pair of games against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday and Wednesday.