"We can skate with anybody": Nathan MacKinnon drives fearless Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche returned home from Nashville following games one and two of their series against the Predators. While the team lost both games, they were increasingly competitive throughout despite mounting injuries that continue to plague the team.

With Erik Johnson and Semyon Varlamov already ruled out for the series, the team lost star defenseman Sam Girard before game two and he did not take the ice at Pepsi Center for practice today. His upper-body injury was suffered in a punishing game one and head coach Jared Bednar stated after practice he remains in a day-to-day status.

In fact, only a small handful of players did take the ice today as it was an optional practice following the team’s travel back to Denver yesterday following the game. One of the players who briefly did participate was Nathan MacKinnon, whose three points (1g, 2a) through the first two games lead the Avalanche.

It’s been a surprise to many how close the first two games have been but Colorado has been able to present some matchup problems with Nashville with their team speed, something MacKinnon pointed out as one of Colorado’s greatest strengths.

“We’re fast and we can skate with anybody,” MacKinnon said. “We’re a really fast team. That’s our strength: our speed up front. We have four lines that can really move, which is nice because we can play at anybody’s pace. Hopefully, we can really dictate our own pace tomorrow night.”

As the team transitions away from playing in the raucous Bridgestone Arena in Nashville back to Pepsi Center, MacKinnon didn’t feel like the hostile away crowd played a significant role in what happened on the ice in the first two games.

“I don’t think so,” MacKinnon began. “It’s just fun. The fans are great and they have a great atmosphere but I wouldn’t say it’s super tough. I don’t think, technically, any building is tough. The fans have no outcome on the game. They’re just cheering. It’s all mental in that sense. Hopefully, we can use our fans but technically they can’t step on the ice and make plays so I think that’s a good mentality to have on the road. No matter how rowdy it gets we need to stay focused on what’s happening between the boards and that’s it.”

And yet, with the Avalanche home for the next two games, the Avalanche feel confident they can weather the emotional roller coaster and intensity that comes with playing in the postseason on their home ice.

“It’s definitely a challenge,” MacKinnon admitted. “There’s definitely emotional highs and lows and it takes that out of you. I thought in game one we did a good job and in game two we just made one mistake there, just a miscue, but that’s our job though. We’re definitely emotionally invested. I think it will be a lot easier at home when we have 20,000 people behind us as well to maintain that intensity.”

The Avalanche tied a franchise record by winning 28 games at home this season. Their ability to find wins on home ice was a major reason they were able to sneak into the playoffs at all. What is it about the Pepsi Center that changes this team?

“We feel good,” MacKinnon said, showing his mastery of the hockey cliche. “We have lots of confidence here. We’ve shown that we have a good record. Guys have played really well here individually. I don’t know for sure but I think the building has been a lot of fun this year and obviously these next two games will be awesome, even better than the game against St. Louis. We’re excited for the next two.”

While many were predicting the Avalanche to get blown out in this series en route to an easy Nashville sweep, the first two games were much more of a scrap and that has energized the young Colorado locker room.

“I think if we got blown out twice we might feel a little more discouraged,” MacKinnon said. “But I feel like we’re playing as well or better than them in a lot of the two to three periods in each game. They’re so solid that we’ve made some mistakes in the third that they capitalize on. They’re such a strong team we can’t give them that but we have. It’s not over yet.”