Nathan MacKinnon is regarded as one of the best hockey players in the entire world. There’s not a lot that he can’t do. Speaking of what he “couldn’t” do several months ago, Avalanche prospect Calum Ritchie, a top prospect of the Avalanche, pulled off something that fits that description when he faked a shot, only to shoot a backhander when the goaltender was not aware of what was happening.
MacKinnon didn’t quite pull that sort of thing off against the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night, but the comparison between the Ritchie goal and No. 29’s goal doesn’t take anything away from the latter’s. Just check it out for yourself. You can find the goal at the 3:00 mark of the recap video.
Are you surprised? Nah, you really shouldn’t be. MacKinnon can do virtually anything and while a common reaction would be “Oh yeah, it’s Nathan MacKinnon,” that doesn’t take away from his elite abilities. His ability to skate and be where he’s supposed to be is awesome to witness. It’s pretty easy to miss the puck with your stick on a quick play like that, but MacKinnon avoided that. Scoring the first goal of the game was also huge. It was a tone-setter.
Unfortunately, despite the team’s efforts, the Jets pulled off the win in overtime, just 17 seconds in the extra period. What felt like a positive outcome entering overtime ended very fast. The air escaped the arena just with the snap of your fingers. I was very impressed with how the Avalanche played. They played a really sound game, but just let it get away from them in the 5-minute overtime period.
That being said, the Colorado Avalanche are very blessed to have MacKinnon on their side. While he sometimes has off nights, Wednesday night was not one of those. It will be a sad time when we won’t get to see him suit up in burgundy and blue any longer. We have a special player manning the top center spot on this team. You can expect MacKinnon to pull something like that goal off again in the future. It’s not a matter of if, but when.