The media assembled around Nathan MacKinnon after the game last night. He was the star of the game after he played a role in the Avalanche’s 4-2 Game 2 victory over the Wild by scoring a goal and having three assists. He made dazzling plays that made it look easy.
It’s easy to understand why MacKinnon was the center of attention. It’s easy to understand why the Avalanche rookie was the talk of Twitter and why he was a highlight reel last night.
With that said, his success should not overshadow what Gabriel Landeskog and Paul Stastny done last night. They both scored goals in that game as recipients of the Avalanche rookie’s passing.
The point is the Landeskog-Stastny-MacKinnon line played a role in the Avalanche’s success in the first two games of the Western Conference quarterfinals by scoring six goals, 10 assists and 16 points. That Avalanche trio has shined with two young players doing well in their first playoff appearance of their career.
It shouldn’t be surprising they are doing well. They are great offensively and defensively. They are made for this moment. After all, they have stepped up against elite opponents. Why should things change now?
MacKinnon has played well beyond his age in his first experience of playoff hockey. He has seven points in two playoff games. How impressive is that? Think of it this way. That’s more points than Sidney Crosby had with five points in his one and out playoff appearance in 2007. Keep in mind he is only 18 years old.
Think about what you have done when you were 18. Odds are you were either working at a low-level job or going to college or being in the army. At that age, a kid is learning about life. It makes MacKinnon’s growth is impressive that he is playing in a league that has high stakes. It’s a man’s league where the strongest survive. MacKinnon has taken hard knocks and survived.
The game looks easy for him. With rookies, there’s a saying the game is too fast for them. Maybe MacKinnon is too fast for this game. His speed has been confounding for other teams, and his ability to find the open guy that score is beautiful to watch. It’s like watching a point guard on skates. Wait until he masters being a 40-goal scorer. He is special, but he can be even better.
MacKinnon had three assists in Game 1. His three assists were the key in the Avalanche tying the game twice and winning the game. He set up Ryan O’Reilly to tie the game at 2, and he did it again by setting up Stastny to tie the game at 4. It was only fitting he would set up Stastny’s game-winning goal in overtime.
Compared to what the Avalanche rookie did last night, his show in Game 1 was ho-hum. He had four points last night by scoring a goal and three assists.
After the Wild started the game well by generating shots at Semyon Varlamov and taking a 1-0 lead, MacKinnon gave the Avalanche a boost by tying the game after he broke Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon’s ankles and fired a shot to score.
That goal got MacKinnon going. He was able to find an open Landeskog who scored to give the Avalanche a 2-1 lead. He did the same thing when he found the Avalanche captain who was open enough to score in making it a 3-1 game. He completed his night by finding Statsny to score in making this a 4-2 game.
No one but Avalanche president of hockey operations Joe Sakic saw it coming. He knew something about MacKinnon when he drafted him as the first pick of last year’s NHL Draft. He saw the Avalanche rookie in himself. A player who is a puck handler and a guy who made others better. A player who defends. The people’s choice was Seth Jones based on him being touted last year, but Sakic went with his gut and went the other way. That worked out well for the Avalanche.
It wasn’t an easy decision for Sakic. He couldn’t get that pick wrong. He could have gone with the safe choice and went with Jones. He had to really make sure MacKinnon was really good, and he felt he was. That’s where the Avalanche boss deserves credit.
Landeskog is making his first playoff appearance. He has played like he has been through the playoff wars. He demonstrated it by scoring the first goal of the Avalanche in Game 1, and he did it again by scoring two more goals last night. He has been a scoring machine. He has been able to shoot the puck at the speed that Wild goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov could not keep up. He is a natural at this.
With him being the captain, he has to lead the way. He certainly has with three goals. That should serve him well as the playoff continues.
Stastny is best served as a finisher. Once Landeskog and MacKinnion are passing the puck to each other, he puts himself in a position to find a hole to score.
Those three Avalanche stars are making it easy. It’s not like they don’t know any better. That is a good thing. They are doing things that can’t teach.
Scoring playoff goals is not easy. It’s mental. It takes a special skill to make it look easy. That Avalache top line has done thing that make you wonder how they do it.
Whatever it is, it’s working.
With what the Landeskog-MacKinnon-Stastny line are doing, it makes one pine for more.
Contact or follow Leslie Monteiro at @LightRodWriter
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Leslie Monteiro
Leslie is a contributor for Lightning Rod Sports. He covered high school sports in Bergen County out in North Jersey, and has written op-ed columns on sports such as Bleacher Report and NY Sports Digest.
