MacKinnon’s status still unclear
Star center absorbed hit to head near end of Avs’ win Wednesday
Before and after star center Nathan MacKinnon left the game with an apparent head injur y Wednesday night, the Avalanche’s topline for wards were the best players on both teams in Colorado’s 4-0 victor y at San Jose.
MacKinnon and his wingers, Gabe Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, combined for three goals and nine points. Landeskog and Rantanen had a hand in all four goals, and both scored after MacKinnon absorbed an illegal check to the head from San Jose rookie Joachim Blichfeld, who was ejected from the game with a match penalty at 8:08 of the third period.
Blichfeld, who was playing in just his fourth NHL game Wednesday, was suspended for two games late Thursday by NHL Player Safety.
The Avs returned to Denver on Thursday and other - wise had the day of f.
An update on MacKinnon’s condition is expected at Friday’s morning skate at Ball Arena, where Colorado opens a two-game set against Anaheim and a nine-game homestand.
Wednesday’s shutout at San Jose came just two nights after Colorado blew a 2-0 lead and lost 6-2 to the Sharks — the second time in less than a week the Avs fell 6-2.
The Avs held a team meeting ahead of Wednesday’s rematch with the Sharks.
“As they should be, they were the guys that had the most to say about our team in our meeting,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said of MacKinnon, Landeskog and Rantanen. “When you are talking about certain things, addressing our team as leaders, the biggest thing is you have to go out and put your money where your mouth is. I believe they did that.”
As the home team, San Jose had the matchup choice and assigned center Logan Couture and wingers Evander Kane and Kevin Labanc against the MacKinnon line. The Sharks won that matchup Monday, with Couture’s line combining for two goals and five points.
Bednar didn’t tr y to get away from that match on Wednesday night. He believed in his top guys.
“That’s the way the Sharks wanted it. That’s the way we wanted it. It’s leaders and top-end guys against top-end guys,” Bednar said. “The (Sharks’) line got the better of Mac’s line the other night. Tonight, it was not the case. I thought they really stepped up and tried to lead our team. It didn’t come easy for them but their work was there. The second and third efforts on pucks and in battles, and then using their skill, that’s what we want to see.”
The hard work from the MacKinnon line seemed to rub off on the entire team, which can sometimes rely too much on its collective skill.
“At the end of the day, we’re a real mediocre team if we don’t go out and outwork our opponent,” Bednar said. “If we tr y to skill our way through games, we’re a mediocre team. If we go out and work the way we can work, I have a lot of faith in our guys and I believe we’re going to win more than our share of hockey games if we do that.”
He added: “I believe in our guys’ skill and hockey sense, that if they work, we’re going to get it done.”
MacKinnon might not have returned in the third period because Landeskog scored 15 seconds into Blichfeld’s five-minute major penalty and then Rantanen scored his second of the game at 14:34 of the period. MacKinnon, who assisted on Rantanen’s first goal to give the Avs a 1-0 lead, might have remained out for precautionary reasons.
“I saw him coming off the ice. He was in the hallway. He seems to be doing good,” Bednar said of MacKinnon after the game. “I think that we get lucky on it. Hopefully, he’s feeling good and ever ything tomorrow but as of right now he seems to be fine.”