BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon was in such a zone on Monday, the Colorado Avalanche’s top-line center blanked on his second goal celebration.
“Stick twirl? I don’t think I did that, did I?” MacKinnon said, after his two-goal outing helped seal a 3-1 victory over the winless Buffalo Sabres. “I’ll have to rewatch it.”
Upon review, MacKinnon smiled when showed a replay of the stick twirl and punctuating his celebration with a fist pump after his snap shot from the high slot beat Alex Lyon on the short side to cap the scoring with 8:01 left in the second period.
“I guess I did,” he said. “Definitely excited about the goal. Don’t usually score from that far out, so just happy about it.”
He is no stranger to scoring. He’s scored at least 20 goals 10 times over his first 12 seasons, including a career-best 51 in 2023-24, his lone NHL MVP season.
McKinnon is already on a roll in his 13th season with the Avalanche, who are off to a 3-0-1 start. He has four goals, including the winner in a 2-1 victory over Utah, and four assists.
Though defenseman Cale Makar’s second-period goal counted as the game-winner, MacKinnon’s contributions proved valuable for a Colorado team still adjusting to the Eastern time zone, facing a 12:30 p.m. puck drop and following a grueling 5-4 shootout loss to Dallas in Denver on Saturday night.
With Colorado being outshot 5-1 in the opening minutes, MacKinnon opened the scoring by taking Martin Necas’ pass at the right boards and cutting across the middle before backhanding a shot into the open left side 3:14 into the game.
“He knows the circumstances we’re in, and creating offense the first part of the game was a little bit of a struggle,” coach Jared Bednar said.
“It’s the type of performance you kind of need sometimes,” he added. “And (MacKinnon) certainly was our best offensive player.”
Bednar said MacKinnon’s best play actually came on a goal that eventually didn’t count. MacKinnon powered his way up the left boards and out-muscled several defenders in setting up Necas’ goal that was disallowed after the Sabres successfully challenged the Avalanche for being offside.
“It was obviously offside, and it was the right call,” Bednar said. “But he had a really strong night. Relentless and tenacious the whole night.”
MacKinnon was disappointed he didn’t score more in assessing how quickly he’s gelled on a line with Necas, who was acquired in a trade that sent Mikko Rantanen to Carolina in January, and Artturi Lehkonen.
“(Necas) creates so much time and space for me on his delays ... And Lekhy makes it all possible with his routes and his net presence,” MacKinnon said. “You know, Marty set me up for 10 chances tonight and only got two.”
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