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Nathan MacKinnon on a cold streak with Colorado Avalanche

By Graham Tiedtke |
Nov 20, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) skates against the Nashville Predators during the second period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 20, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) skates against the Nashville Predators during the second period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports

It’s been a little bit of a weird stretch for the Colorado Avalanche. On Saturday, they earned their best win of the 2023-24 season with a 6-3 comeback victory over the Dallas Stars. I previously talked about this game. It was just incredible how well the lights turned on after that first period. One thing that hardly seems to be talked about is the fact that the team’s best forward, Nathan MacKinnon, has gone five straight games without a goal.

The Avalanche are 3-2 in that stretch, which is not terrible. However, I feel as if the Avalanche would probably have a better record in this stretch if MacKinnon did score.

That’s not to say he has been non-existent. He’s had seven assists through that span of five games, so it is not like he isn’t contributing at all.

Teams are trying to lock down the Avalanche’s best forward, which has ended up burning them. Colorado has scored 24 goals in the last five games which is an average of 4.8 goals per game. Obviously, that’s not going to hold up every game, and the Avalanche were going to win Monday night’s game if it weren’t for a couple of mistakes in the last minute against the Predators.

It’s not time to panic if you’re the Colorado Avalanche. Players are allowed cold streaks during a long grueling season. I don’t know what the situation is with MacKinnon over this short stretch. It is just something that the team will have to work on in practice and try and figure out ways to get MacKinnon the puck right in front of the opposing goaltender’s net.

MacKinnon isn’t the reason for the losses. It’s just that having him score could create a chain reaction.

That being said, Nathan MacKinnon will be fine. I’m not going to worry too much about this cold streak, but I feel like this team would be rejuvenated if he were to get in on the scoring action sooner rather than later. It’s time for a Nathan MacKinnon goal.

Colorado is second in the division with 22 points, trailing the Dallas Stars (who they recently beat), who have 25. There is still a lot more season to play. Like I said, it is not time to panic; it would just be nice to see MacKinnon get back on the score sheet. His time is coming.

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