MacKinnon leads way as Avs smack Wild 7-1

It used to be that the Colorado Avalanche had something of an inferiority complex, or so it seemed, playing the Minnesota Wild. The Avs, after all, have lost twice to the Wild in seven-game playoff series (2003 and 2014), both on home ice. If a playoff series were held today between the Avs and Wild, Minnesota would hold home-ice advantage.

But no matter where they play, it doesn’t look like the Avs are much intimidated by the Wild anymore. The Avs crushed Minnesota 7-1 Friday night, in a game that wasn’t as close as the scoreboard would indicate.

It was all Avs, all the time, in this one. For the second time this season at the Pepsi Center, the Avs chased Wild starting goalie Devan Dubnyk from the game early, as the Avs climbed to within four points of Minnesota in the standings, with a game in hand still.

The Avs also, as of this writing, are back among the top eight in the Western Conference. They would be a playoff team if the regular season ended right now as I write this, in other words. Alas, there is still more than a month to go.

Nathan MacKinnon was a one-man wrecking crew for the Avs, as he potted goals 30 and 31 in the game. He added three assists and was a plus-5 in the game. Late in the third period, former Av Daniel Winnik tried to give him a cheap shot along the boards, leaving his feet to try and hit him with his head down some, but all MacKinnon did was evade the cheap shot attempt and help set up Matt Nieto for the final goal of the night.

Mikko Rantanen had four points in the game too, and Tyson Barrie and Sam Girard were masterful controlling the puck out of the zone all night.

Things started off innocently enough in the second period but, once again, Colorado’s top line was over it and Tyson Barrie converted on a beautiful passing play to make it 3-0 and get the Wild players and fans alike on their heels.

The electric Pepsi Center crowd drowned any vocal attempts by the Wild fans to get their guys going and the Avalanche responded with fury.

MacKinnon notched his second of the game as he broke into the zone and Rantanen was trying to sneak out and get back onside. MacKinnon’s wrister beat Dubynk seemed to catch him off guard and beat him five hole. The Wild challenged the play as offside but it was ultimately determined to be a goal, giving the Avalanche a 4-0 lead and a power play.

In an act of accidental mercy, the Avalanche failed to capitalize on the power play. In the immediate shift after getting back to even strength, Carl Soderberg threw an innocent backhand shot towards the net and it was deflected off a Wild player and past an unsuspecting Dubynk, was who pulled after giving up five goals on just 17 shots.

Alex Stalock replaced Dubynk but it didn’t seem to matter much to anybody in burgundy as the top line yet again crammed the puck down the throat of Minnesota’s defense and Rantanen got into on the goal-scoring fun by putting home a MacKinnon centering pass that skittered through the crease to make it 6-0.

Finally awake and into the game, the Wild turned up their play a notch, drawing an Avalanche penalty while against Colorado’s fourth line. They maintained puck possession for a lengthy amount of time on the delayed penalty and Mikko Koivu ended Semyon Varlamov’s shutout bid at 17:07 of the second period and bringing the game to 6-1.

In the spirit of Brazil, MacKinnon wasn’t quite finished yet and he combined with Blake Comeau and Matt Nieto to make it 7-1 early in the third period with Nieto finishing off the play with a one-timer. It was MacKinnon’s fifth point of the night.

The Avs will be back at it Sunday at home against the Western Conference-leading Nashville Predators.