The Colorado Avalanche are off to a hot start and, to no surprise, All-Star center Nathan MacKinnon is leading the way.
As the Avalanche prepare to complete a quick two-game road trip against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, MacKinnon has hit the scoresheet in all four of his team’s outings and racked up four goals and four assists.
He scored two goals in Colorado’s 3-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Monday in the first chapter of their trek.
“He’s a hungry player right now,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “Our team’s been focused. We’re determined so far this season. And he’s a guy that we rely on to provide offense, he knows it. He knows the circumstances we’re in in today’s game.”
Colorado has put together a 3-0-1 record and held the opposition to one goal in each of its victories.
While MacKinnon is the biggest headliner, his success has been helped immensely by the chemistry that he and Marin Necas have created. Necas, acquired last season from the Carolina Hurricanes, also has netted eight points (three goals, five assists).
“He creates so much time and space for me on his delays,” MacKinnon said. “I’m trying to let him do a lot off the rush because he’s so good at it and he’s so good at swinging in deep. It’s really fun to play with him.
“Obviously, (Artturi Lehkonen) makes it all possible with his routes, his net presence,” MacKinnon added. “We can’t have three guys buzzing around the outside, so we need someone in the paint and that’s what Lehky’s doing.”
Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog did not practice on Wednesday, but Bednar said the forward is expected to play.
The Blue Jackets are looking to rebound after a disappointing 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Monday in their home opener.
Despite outshooting the visitors 16-8 in the first period, the Blue Jackets never took a lead.
“It’s frustrating,” coach Dean Evason said. “The guys, I’m sure, are frustrated already. We had a real good opportunity to win … we just didn’t finish. We’ve got to stay the course with what we’re doing and not push too many panic buttons.”
One Columbus player not struggling offensively is Kirill Marchenko, who has scored four goals in the last two games. However, the team needs others to step forward.
“I like how we played, mentally everybody goes to the battle,” Marchenko said. “Everybody played really good. We just had a little bit of bad luck. We need to think what we can do better … and don’t get frustrated.”
One aspect the Blue Jackets must improve immediately is the penalty kill, ranked last in the league through Tuesday with a 50% success rate. Columbus has surrendered seven opposition power-play goals over its 14 short-handed situations. That was addressed in practice on Wednesday.
Just as important will be to believe that playing the correct way, as they did in the first period against the Devils, will lead to victories.
“Sometimes you play that way and you score four or five in a period. Sometimes you don’t score at all,” forward Charlie Coyle said. “Those are the signs of good teams, who can weather that and just know that we’re playing the right way.”
The Blue Jackets will have a notable roster move. Forward Miles Wood is expected to miss at least one week after suffering an apparent eye injury in Monday’s game, which sets the stage for forward Yegor Chinakhov to make his season debut.
