BSN exclusive: Defiant Nathan MacKinnon knows it's put-up-or-shut-up time

LOS ANGELES – Nathan MacKinnon is not a fun guy to be around after a loss. This is a compliment to him, by the way.

Talking to the press after a loss seems to rank as high on his preferences list as a trip to the dentist for an emergency root canal. He doesn’t suffer foolish questions with gladness. Ask a bad question, and you’ll probably be told so by him.

But, again, that’s a compliment to him. It’s why he’s a winner in life, at hockey’s highest level, making millions of dollars a year at age 22 to play a game. MacKinnon knows, though, that he’ll be asked tough, critical questions when he’s not scoring goals. And, right now, he’s not scoring goals at the time of year his team really needs them. And, no, he’s not at all happy about it.

Monday night, though, after the eighth straight game in which he failed to put a puck in the net, in a 3-1 Avs loss to the Los Angeles Kings, MacKinnon sat at his locker and took questions on why this might be. And not just for him – but linemates Gabe Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, as well.

“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We didn’t get the job done,” MacKinnon told BSN Denver. “Everything was kind of going in the whole year, now it’s really tight. They’re definitely keying in on us. We’re definitely the heartbeat of our offense, so if they can shut us down, they have a good shot at winning.”

It’s not like MacKinnon’s game has gone straight in the tank these last eight games. No, he didn’t get a goal in any of them, but he did post five assists. He put three or more shots on goal in seven of the eight. Against the Kings, though, he had only two shots on net, against fellow Hart Trophy candidate Kings center Anze Kopitar. Kings Norris Trophy defenseman Drew Doughty, too, had a big hand in helping shut the Avs’ top line down too, with a great performance in 28:47 of ice time.

“I thought, in the second period, we had some really good looks, some really good looks on the power play,” MacKinnon said. “We’re obviously down right now, but we have a couple days to shake it off. It’ll be good to get a couple days off as a team on the road. Everyone’s together. Hopefully, we can get a win in San Jose.”

A few locker stalls over, captain Landeskog wore a frustrated, somewhat puzzled look. Why isn’t the puck going in right now for him, either? It’s been eight games since he found the back of the net too (not including a shootout goal that won a game), and he did his best to explain why after the loss to L.A.

“Obviously, you’re playing against good defensemen every night. Doughty and (Dion) Phaneuf are real good, shutdown defensemen. But, as a line, we know we gotta be better,” Landeskog told BSN Denver. “We have to produce and score goals. We’re as hard on ourselves as anybody and we expect to produce every night. Tonight, I thought we had a few good looks and on the power play, we should have had one or two. That’s the way it goes.”

Landeskog said, “Yeah, we knew” when asked if the team was aware when it took the ice against the Kings that the Blues had lost earlier in the night at home to Washington, where a win against L.A. would have gone a long way to clinching a playoff spot.

“It was a good opportunity for us, obviously, to climb,” Landeskog said. “A win tonight would have put us in the first Wild Card spot. Didn’t happen. Believe me, every game, we’re trying to win. That was our mindset tonight. I thought our second period was real good, and we go into the third down 2-1. We had a good push. We felt like we were taking over the game. It didn’t happen, and now we have to recharge and refocus in San Jose. Whatever happens, happens, with St. Louis and Chicago, but we’ve got to just focus on winning that one in San Jose.”

Rantanen, the third part of the equation that’s not solving anything for the Avs right now, has one goal in the last six games. He’s looked a little tired of late, but that can probably be said for any hockey player this time of year.

Finishing off his thoughts on the situation of late, MacKinnon sounded a note of defiance on what might happen in the final stretch.

“It’s good (St. Louis) has a game in hand, but we’re still up on them,” he said. “They still have to win that game in hand, and then we get to play them. We win against San Jose, I’m pretty sure that if we win against St. Louis, we’ll be in the playoffs. I don’t know the math for sure, but I think so.”

There are some technicalities, but, pretty much, yeah. It all seems like it might just come down to that final game Saturday against the Blues. With neither them or the Avs able to make things easier for themselves right now, does there seem any doubt that this is what will happen?