Avs crush Capitals behind MacKinnon’s natural hat trick
Also, Cale Makar became the highestscoring defenseman in team history
On Wednesday night, Nathan MacKinnon presented more evidence that he’s the NHL’s most talented player, and made Avs history in the process.
MacKinnon’s natural hat trick, coupled with Cale Makar becoming the Avs’ highest-scoring defenseman all-time, propelled them past the tired and lackluster Capitals 6-2 and gave streaking Colorado its 10th win in the last 13 games.
“He’s the best player in the world,” Makar said. “I don’t think it’s really a question at the moment.”
No. 29’s feat was the franchise’s second natural hat trick — three consecutive goals by the same player — and first by an Avalanche player since Joe Sakic pulled it off on March 13, 2003, at Columbus.
Oh, and MacKinnon tacked on a garbage-time lamp-lighter in the final period, tying his Avs single-game record from earlier this season with a fourth goal. He joined Alex Ovechkin as the only players in the last quarter-century to have multiple fourgoal games in a season, and MacKinnon’s final goal on
Wednesday prompted a thong and a bra to be thrown onto the ice.
“Inappropriate,” MacKinnon quipped.
Amid another big night for him at Ball Arena, MacKinnon also passed Sakic’s franchise record for home point streak to start a season. MacKinnon is now at 24 games, besting Super Joe’s run of 23 games in 2000-01. The NHL record is held by Wayne Gretzky, who tallied points in 40 straight home games for the Kings to begin the 1988-89 season en route to winning the Hart Memorial Trophy.
In all, it was another game where MacKinnon made his NHL foes look like AHL skaters. As usual, MacKinnon was ho-hum about his
How does he feel about joining, and passing, Sakic in rare franchise air?
“Not much, honestly,” MacKinnon said. “Joe’s a legend, and pucks are going in for me right now.”
After a five-point night to get to 82 points on the season, how does he feel about leapfrogging Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov (80 points) atop the NHL leaderboard?
“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s 48 games in and I’ve got the most points. There’s nothing rewarded for that.”
And what about another historic four-goal game? The MVP chants from the home crowd whose adgolden performance.
Y’all know the rest of this one, too. The premise was Chubb on one side, Von Miller on the other, and the mother of all sack parties for years to come. The reality is that the pair alternated injuries and only wound up playing in 22 games together from 2018 to ’21.
Meanwhile, the Broncos kept whiffing at quarterback and head coach, necessitating a trade in November 2021 that sent Miller, a Mile High pillar, to the Rams.
The Vonster turned the move into another ring. The Broncos turned it into Russell Wilson.
We mention this because, as mock draft season kicks into fifth gear, the smarter kids in the room, along with Mel Kiper Jr., project the Broncos using pick No. 12 this April to pull another Chubb, to double down on what they’ve already got:
ESPN/Kiper Jr. — Laiatu Latu, UCLA edge rusher
CBS Sports — Terrion Arnold, Alabama CB
NFL Network/Bucky Brooks — Terrion Arnold, Alabama CB
NFL Network/Daniel Jeremiah — Terrion Arnold, Alabama CB
Ourlads.com — Kool-Aid McKinstry, Alabama CB
Sensible? Sure. Wise? Heck, no.
Lord help coach/secret GM/mortgage pitchman Sean Payton if he took the “best player available,” one of the above, then had the temerity to spin it as such while quarterbacks Michael
Penix Jr., Bo Nix, or J.J. McCarthy happened to still be on the table.
The Broncos haven’t had a first-round pick since 2021. They need help everywhere. The talent on this roster stacks up with the two-deep of the Lions the way I stack up with Jason Momoa in a swimsuit contest.
If it’s my money, the best three options for the Broncos at 12 are no-brainers:
1. Take the best QB on the board.
2. Take the best tight end on the board, but only if said tight end is Brock Bowers.
3. Trade the heck down and gobble up more picks.
If I can’t land bona-fide, home-run quality for my offense, fine. Get me quantity. Lord knows I need the latter.
What the Broncos don’t need is one of George Paton’s tired, cliched scouting excuses. No more, “You can’t have too much of ‘X,’” or, “We feel we now have the best tandem at ‘Y,’” when neither ‘X’ nor ‘Y’ moves the needle the way a quarterback does in this league.
And yes, pairing either McKinstry or Arnold at cornerback opposite Pat Surtain II could, on paper, portend a second coming of the “No-Fly Zone.” It might even keep Mahomes and Reid up at night. It certainly gives you more ammo in a division that just got nastier with the Chargers getting off their powder blue duffs to pair Jim Harbaugh with Justin Herbert.
But all the noble intent in the world won’t exorcise the spirits of quarterbacks, good quarterbacks, who could’ve been yours. From 2018 to 2021, the Broncos had picks 5, 20, 15 and 9 in the first round. They tapped Chubb, tight end Noah Fant, wideout Jerry Jeudy and PS2. So, Pro Bowler, decent player, inconsistent player and Pro Bowler, respectively.
But in doing so, they also passed on six quarterbacks who were still on the board on the first night of the draft: Allen (who went to Buffalo), Josh Rosen (Arizona) and Lamar Jackson (Baltimore) in ’18; Jordan Love (Green Bay) in ’20; and Justin Fields (Chicago) and Mac Jones (New England) in ’21. Of those six, four helped steer their respective franchises to the postseason within two years of being selected. Allen hasn’t missed the playoffs since he was a rookie in 2018.
As a philosophy, “best player available” might have a high floor. It also comes with the potential for a cramped, low ceiling. Payton wasn’t a part of that history here. But if he turns a blind, stubborn eye to precedent, he could darn well find himself doomed to repeat it.