MacKinnon doing less has Avs winning more

DENVER — Nathan MacKinnon has gone from “Why me?” to “Why not us?”

After losing in the second round of the playoffs for the third consecutive year last season, the star-crossed superstar groused that he was eight years into his NHL career and he hadn’t won squat.

An offseason chat with his boss, Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic, helped the Colorado center realize he didn’t have to lug around the weight of hefty expectations squarely on his shoulders.

“Nate is giving up probably playing the way he’s always played to make sure that he’s good on the defensive side of it, but he’s still contributing and it’s up to the other guys on the team to get the job done on some nights,” coach Jared Bednar said. “Different guys will step up on different nights. But that’s how you win in the playoffs, you have to be willing to sacrifice a little bit of your own game for what’s better for the team.”

That’s a lesson MacKinnon took to heart from the start of training camp and helped him lead the Avalanche to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 2001.

MacKinnon and his teammates will try to take a 2-0 lead over the two-time defending champion Lightning on Saturday night at Ball Arena, where they won a 4-3 overtime thriller in the opener.

Sakic exhorted MacKinnon not to be so hard on himself and to play more freely this season.

It has worked wonders. MacKinnon said he no longer feels bogged down.

“I was in a different head space last year but definitely feel more free and feel good, for sure,” said MacKinnon, who had an assist in Game 1 but drew every eye — and plenty of Lightning attention — on multiple occasions.

“It’s a special group in there and you don’t get to the final by having selfish guys or guys going in different directions,” MacKinnon said.