Colorado Avalanche Mac’O’Kog Line Is A Beauty

Look out Denver.

After a season of tinkering with his line combinations, Patrick Roy may have finally struck gold. The line that many on social media have referred to simply as the 92-90-29 line, is starting to take over games.

For symmetry sake, many might have wished that Matt Duchene would be centering Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon. 92-9-29 is a glorious palindrome, but it lacks a certain essence of beard to truly shine.

Enter Ryan O’Reilly. Wait, he’s still here?

Many Avalanche fans have been quick to dub the heart-and-soul center as expendable. Much like his heart, the one they call “Factor” wears his salary demands on his sleeve. The Avalanche would be wise to recognize both. Ryan O’Reilly needs to be a part of this team long-term. But hey, Ryan, we wouldn’t mind if you helped us out a bit and don’t break the bank to stay with Colorado!

You need players like Ryan O’Reilly, whose work ethic is fueled by a passion for the game. Nobody stays on the ice longer than ROR at practices. And oh, by the way, he’s a helluva hockey player.

O’Reilly’s smart, calculated, two-way game has cemented the 92-90-29 line into a thing of beauty. The Mac’O’Kog line, if I may, has played outstanding hockey together since being united.

Over the past 10 games, Gabriel Landeskog has racked up 7 goals and 5 assists for a total of 12 points. Landy has finally stepped up his offensive flow to match that of the golden locks that emerge every time he takes off his helmet.

The kid on the other side, Nathan MacKinnon, is heating up as well. All he’s done is picked up his first career NHL hat trick. McKinnon has racked up 5 goals and 4 assists in his last 10 games.

And then, we get to the bearded one. Patrick Roy hasn’t given a concrete answer as to why he’s growing the beard, but I think subconsciously he’s growing out the face-music because he knows Ryan O’Reilly is awesome.

Factor hasn’t scored in his last 10 games, but he has racked up 8 assists, including this slick little pass to set up MacKinnon’s hat trick goal.

O’Reilly gives the line a versatile center-ice presence, and because Ryan is such a responsible player, it gives MacKinnon and Landy a little more freedom to think offensively from time to time.

O’Reilly has also been a beast in the face-off circle of late, winning 60% or more of his draws in 7 of his last 11 games. This includes a sterling 20-for-26 performance against the defending champion LA Kings. In only 2 of his last 11 has O’Reilly failed to win 50% of those draws, and he was close (47.6% in Chicago and 47.4% in Nashville).

The true strength of the Mac’O’Kog line is their ability to start cultivating some positive possession numbers in favor of the Avalanche.

This has been a noted weakness for the Avs, at times to a level that is a bit annoying.

I don’t buy into these stats 100%, but I do think that it is important to have the puck. I think that for the Avalanche to get to where they want to be, they need to make improvements in that area.

Out of all Avalanche players who have at least 100 minutes of ice-time this season, MacKinnon, Landeskog, and O’Reilly have the best shot-at-net ratios (Corsi) on the team, in that order.

Nathan MacKinnon has made a late surge, and has nearly raised his shot-at-net ratio to 50% for the season. Good things tend to happen when you fire the puck at the opponents net.

The Avalanche have had some great lines and combinations of players in their history. Who can forget the legendary AMP line, that featured Alex Tanguay, Milan Hejduk, and Peter Forsberg all in their prime?

One of my favorite Avalanche duos was Joe Sakic and Ryan Smyth. Sakic had the grace and unmistakable skill levels, and Smyth just threw his body into the scoring areas with reckless abandon. It have fond memories watching them play together.

The thing I love about the Mac’O’Kog, is much like other great lines in the history of the NHL, each player brings a little something different to the table.

Assembling a great line is a bit like assembling a sandwich. For example, to make a PB&J you need the bread, the peanut butter, and the jelly. Two doses of peanut butter without the jelly, and it just isn’t the same. Forget the bread, you’ve got yourself a mess.

Ryan O’Reilly is the bread that holds this sandwich together. He plays a 200 foot game, and has the subtle stick work and attention to detail required to make him one of the better defensive players in the game. When he really wants to, O’Reilly is capable of sneakily showing up on the scoresheet as well.