MacKinnon injury overshadows overtime loss in Minnesota

The Avs lost a hockey game tonight up in Minneapolis. It wasn’t all bad, as they managed to get a point in the 4-3 overtime loss. Securing three of four points on the road is always a good bit of business.

Losing your best player to injury before the start of the third period, however, is definitively worse business.

Nathan MacKinnon left the game after the second period and it was passed along by the team that he would not return to the game with a lower-body injury. Going back through his shifts, I couldn’t find any discernible injury. There wasn’t any kind of awkward or major contact and he didn’t have any reactions like anything was wrong.

He continued playing and finished the second period with just under 16 minutes of ice time. On a night where the Avs were forced to dress 11 forwards and six defensemen because of salary cap issues, the loss of MacKinnon dropped them to 10 forwards.

It was a tie game going into the third and the teams traded goals before enjoying an 18-second overtime session that ended with a Jonas Brodin goal to give the Wild the win.

There were some positives from the game, such as Cale Makar’s first goal of the year and his overall general dominance continuing as he shredded the Wild while on the ice. The second line continued it’s offensive push as Brandon Saad scored in the third period to give the Avs a 3-2 lead on a wicked shot that Cam Talbot may not have even seen. Bowen Byram played his seventh game, meaning he’s sticking with the Avs and not heading back to juniors.

There were some negatives, of course. Hunter Miska simply doesn’t look like an NHL goaltender. Ryan Graves and Conor Timmins continued their uneven play with Graves having the significantly worse night of the two. J.T. Compher’s ride on the strugglebus continues for at least one more day. Sam Girard arguably had his worst game of the year as the defense overall had just an okay night.

In the end, nothing else will be remembered about this game over the long haul other than whatever becomes of the MacKinnon injury. That’s the story tonight.

As is standard now, the Avs provided no immediate postgame update on MacKinnon’s status and we are completely in the dark on a timeline for return. Because it is a back-to-back and the team is traveling back to Denver, tomorrow is an off-day for the organization and no updates will be given until Tuesday morning.

TAKEAWAYS

• It was a muck and grind, heart and soul type of game. Those are always interesting because different players respond differently to that kind of environment and we saw that again today. The Kadri trio responded with a strong effort, though Burakovsky was the worst of the three with multiple botched scoring chances, and I don’t know how you could ask anything more of Logan O’Connor. He should have had an assist in the first period when MacKinnon was robbed by Cam Talbot and he overall played a really effective two-way game. His play is exactly how you take a limited role and make a case to stay in the lineup.
• The Wild were also down a number of key players in this game, giving it a really weird souped up preseason game feel for the third period when MacKinnon also went MIA. It was a bizarre third period that, frankly, the Avs could have played much better in. They got overly cute with the puck at times and went away from the “bombs away” shooting mentality that had been so successful in their three-game winning streak. Credit to the Wild defense, however, as they did a good job defending the Avs and preventing some of the high-quality looks they usually generate.
• Talbot outplayed Miska by a wide margin tonight and was easily the biggest difference in the game in my eyes. I thought Miska was just okay until the weak overtime goal got through him but Talbot made a number of spectacular saves throughout the game to keep Minnesota in it. Half of Colorado’s losses have now come with Miska in net , though he has not played terribly in those two starts. Even if Miska continues to battle and give the Avs a chance, if they keep losing with him in goal, I wonder how long that leash is before they turn to Adam Werner.
• Having played arguably his worst game of the year, I don’t understand even a little bit playing Sam Girard on the first shift in overtime. The same is true of Gabe Landeskog, who was absolutely brutal offensively tonight. Kadri taking the faceoff made perfect sense and then a communication breakdown allowed an open Brodin to throw a muffin past Miska. A total mess. Colorado’s overtime struggles under Bednar are inexplicable, regardless of his lineup choices. Those are three good skaters who are good defensively and they combined to make an awful play on the first shift overtime. What a mess.
• Cale Makar scored a brilliant goal in Minneapolis and the Avs lost a one-goal game. Seems like I’ve heard this story somewhere before…
• Makar’s dominance is something spectacular. At 5v5, Makar was on the ice for 72% of shot attempts, 61% of scoring chances, 60% of high-danger chances, and 75% of actual goals. This is a legitimate Norris candidacy…so far.
• MacKinnon’s injury better not be serious. That would be some real bullshit.