Mackinnon’s work ethic propelling him to record heights
Nathan Mackinnon and Jonathan Drouin end warmups before every Colorado Avalanche game the same way.
Mackinnon sets up in the left circle. Drouin finds a spot on the right side of the ice, armed with a couple handfuls of pucks he’s gathered. Then they practice cross-ice passes to each other, with Mackinnon eventually shooting each toward the net on a one-timer.
The pair of old friends who were reunited this offseason do this at the end of nearly every practice as well. They change the angle of the passes. Some have a little more sauce than others. Over and over — Drouin to Mackinnon for a onetimer, Drouin to Mackinnon, back to Drouin, back to Mackinnon for a onetimer, and so on.
In this remarkable season, for both players, there couldn’t be a more fitting way for Mackinnon to reach a major milestone than what transpired Sunday afternoon at Ball Arena. Mackinnon set a new Denver-based record for points in a season when he collected No. 120 to tie Joe Sakic from 28 years ago, No. 121 to establish a new mark and No. 122 to continue his chase of the overall franchise standard of 139, set by Peter Stastny 42 years ago.
Mackinnon tied the record by setting up Drouin for a one-timer. He broke the record from nearly the same spot, only this time it was Drouin who fed him.
“We talk about that weak side a lot. Great pass by him,” Mackinnon said. “He’s got amazing vision. He always has. Yeah, great pass.”
Drouin scored the gamewinning goal in overtime, with assists from Cale Makar and Mackinnon. It was a three-point game for him as well, and Drouin is now four points shy of his career high.
When Drouin signed a one-year, bargain-bin contract with the Avs, everyone immediately pointed to the connection between him and Mackinnon. They’ve been friends for more than a decade, dating back to their days carpooling together with the Halifax Mooseheads.
Drouin has proven he doesn’t need Mackinnon to be a high-level NHL player, and he’s been one of the signings of the offseason. But, Avs coach Jared Bednar did put them back together Sunday while Colorado was trying to erase a four-goal deficit, and the dynamic duo made more magic together.
How many times have they practiced those onetimers together?
“Oh, a lot. Just come to one of our practices,” Bednar said. “They’re out early, they’re out late, they’re always working on those little touches and shots. It’s funny, we had trouble going through the seams too many times in the first period, and yet, we get two seam goals in the third.”
Mackinnon has now scored more points in one season in an Avalanche uniform than Sakic or Peter Forsberg, the two pantheon pillars of the franchise, ever did. After the game, Mackinnon deflected comparisons to an all-time great player, saying he doesn’t believe he’s as good right now as Sakic ever was.
That’s what he always does. It’s getting harder for anyone else to follow his lead, though.