Nathan MacKinnon is taking over the series

Clay Riddell and N. Murray Edwards are listed as the co-owners of the Calgary Flames. Add Nathan MacKinnon’s name temporarily to the list.

From the overtime session of Game 2 in Calgary, through the three periods of Game 3, MacKinnon has claimed dominion over a Flames defense that looks like a bum steer stuck in the mud at the Calgary Stampede.

The Flames have no answer for the Avalanche’s’ top-line center. Reduced to frustrated hacks and whacks by the end of Monday’s 6-2 beatdown by the Avs, the Flames’ best hope against MacKinnon would appear to be to try and detain him at customs for any trips back and forth over the border.

After torching the Flames in OT to win Game 2, MacKinnon came out and established early that there wouldn’t be any need for extra hockey. He scored the first two goals in the game, and left a vaporous trail with speed that, frankly, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen faster in a playoff game.

“I mean, that’s my job, to step it up in the playoffs,” MacKinnon said. “My legs feel good. I could play all night.”

That can’t be a welcome sound bite to a Flames defense and forward group that looks old and slow all of a sudden. MacKinnon had five shots on net, but it felt like 20. The Avs put an incredible 56 shots on poor Flames goalie Mike Smith, which tied the team playoff record. MacKinnon could have had four or five goals, but he started getting unselfish as the game wore on, preferring to dish the puck to teammates such as Cale Makar – who scored Colorado’s third goal in a dominant first period.

MacKinnon and Makar coming up the ice on that third goal, well, it didn’t seem fair. Avalanche fans, who have suffered long and hard for most of the past 10 years, can feel very, very good about that tandem for future days.

“It was actually a bad drop by me. It was a good handle,” MacKinnon said of the apple-cheeked Makar, who played 14:19 and got the game-winner – just a ho-hum night for a kid who was sitting through classes on the UMass-Amherst campus a week ago. “He was kind of in the dot lane. You can kind of tell his skill. He didn’t just get it and shoot it, or try to panic and give it back to me. He stopped it on his backhand, dropped his shoulder – I think he looked around to see if anyone was backdoor and snapped it 5-hole. And I (heard) him, too. He’s calling for it, first game; He’s yelling ‘3, 3, 3’ at me. That’s great. You want a player to be aggressive and assertive, and I was really impressed by that.”

MacKinnon and linemates Gabe Landeskog and Alexander Kerfoot (with Mikko Rantanen up there at times, too) has thoroughly outplayed Calgary’s top line in the last two games. Thing is, it’s still only 2-1 in the series and the Flames didn’t achieve the most points in the Western Conference by accident.

“We’re up 2-1 and it’s better than being down 2-1,” MacKinnon said. “Hopefully, we can get another one in Game 4, and just get to four wins. That’s it.”

MacKinnon makes one hell of a living, at $6.3 million a year. But that contract, which has four years left on it beyond this one, is making him the most criminally underpaid start in the NHL right now. That’s a subject for another day, but it’s safe to say the Avs are getting the best value from any player out there right now.

“He’s been fantastic in all three games,” Jared Bednar said of MacKinnon. “He’s been focused and dialed in every shift. No shifts off. When he’s skating like that, he’s a lot to handle.”

OTHER NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

• Makar, who spoke only briefly after the game (it’s been a long 48 hours for the kid, the Avs wanted to give him a little R’n’R from the media) started off a little slow, then just seemed to have the confidence of a 10-year pro. His speed and hockey smarts look off the charts.
• The Flames tried to goon it up by the end, but the Avs didn’t just sit and take it. Nikita Zadorov wrestled Garnet Hathaway to the ice late in the game and then lifted his arms to the crowd upon exiting the game.
• Derick Brassard was listed as ill prior to the game and was scratched. Sven Andrighetto took his place, although Dominic Toninato also was recalled from the Colorado Eagles. Bednar said Brassard could play in Game 4.
• Bednar listed defenseman Sam Girard as day-to-day with the upper-body injury he suffered in overtime of Game 2 from a hit by Sam Bennett.
• Makar’s parents were at the game.
• Matt Nieto scored a short-handed goal for the second straight game.

NOTES AND QUOTES FROM AVS PR:

TEAM NOTES
The Avs took a 2-1 series lead heading into Game 4 Wednesday at Pepsi Center. The Avalanche/Nordiques franchise is 12-7 all-time in best-of-seven playoff series when taking a 2-1 series lead, 11-5 since moving to Dever. Colorado’s six goals is its most in a playoff game since scoring eight on May 4, 2002 vs. San Jose (Conference Semifinals) and tied for the most in the NHL in the Stanley Cup Playoffs so far (Winnipeg). The Avs scored three times in the first period, it’s most goals in a playoff period since April 16, 2018 vs. Nashville (1st). The Avalanche’s 56 shots are its most in a playoff game since June 10, 1996 at Florida (also 56: Stanley Cup Final, Game 4) and one shy of a franchise record for shots in a playoff game. The Avs are the first team to record 56+ shots on goal in regulation time of a playoff game since the Panthers on May 24, 1996 vs. Pittsburgh. Colorado’s 21 shots in the first period matches the franchise record for shots in a playoff period (Conference Finals, May 21, 2000 vs. Dallas, 2nd period).
The Avalanche scored two power-play goals in a playoff game for the first time since May 1, 2008 vs. Detroit (Conference Semifinals).
The Avs scored their second shorthanded goal of the series, matching a franchise record for most shorthanded goals in a playoff series and a playoff year.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Cale Makar made his NHL debut and scored his first NHL goal, becoming the
first player in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history to register his first NHL
marker while making his NHL debut in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He’s also the
seventh player in NHL history and first-ever defenseman to make his League
debut in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and score a goal. Makar’s goal stood as the
game-winner, his first in the NHL.
Nathan MacKinnon recorded his second career multi-goal playoff game (also:
April 16 vs. Nashville, Game 3), matching a postseason career high with two
tallies. MacKinnon’s three points in the first period matches the Avalanche/
Nordiques franchise record for most points in a period in the playoffs (9x – last:
Peter Forsberg, April 17, 2004 vs. Dallas, Game 5, Conference Quarterfinals).
Matt Nieto now has two shorthanded goals in this series, the first player in
Avalanche history (since 1995-96) to register two shorthanded tallies in a single playoff series. Nieto’s two shorthanded tallies matches the Avalanche/
Nordiques franchise record for most shorthanded markers in a postseason and he is the second player in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history to score a shorthanded goal in consecutive team games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, joining Andre Savard in Game 2 and 3 of the 1984 Division Semifinals against Buffalo. Nieto is the 17th player in NHL history to score a shorthanded goal in back-to-back playoff games and the first since Philadelphia’s Max Talbot did it in Games 2 and 3 of the 2012 Conference Quarterfinals vs. Pittsburgh. Nieto finished with two points (1g/1a) for his second career multi-point playoff outing (also: April 20, 2014 vs. Los Angeles).
Erik Johnson (1g/1a) notched his first career postseason multi-point game, matching his career total playoff points.
Ian Cole (2a) registered the second multi-point postseason game of his career (also: April 14, 2017 vs. Columbus). His +3 plus/minus rating is a career high for the postseason.
Mikko Rantanen recorded his first career playoff goal and second multi-point outing of the series. His six shots is a career high for the playoffs.
Gabriel Landeskog and Tyson Barrie also recorded six shots each, postseason career highs for both players. Alexander Kerfoot registered his first career playoff assist.
QUOTES
Colorado D Cale Makar
On His First NHL Game: “It’s pretty weird, pretty special though. Obviously, it’s a cool moment. You’ve been working your whole life for this point, but obviously you’re not done yet.”
On His First NHL Goal: “Nate (Colorado C Nathan MacKinnon) made a really good drop pass there and honestly, I just tried to get it inside the D and try to slip one on net and hope for the rebound. But fortunately, it went in.”
Colorado C Alexander Kerfoot
On The Home Crowd: “Just the energy that they brought all game, especially in the first period. I mean, I don’t know how many shots we had in the first period, but we spent a lot of time in the O-zone. They did a great job of building that momentum for us and we were able to capitalize on a couple goals, which I think just created a little bit more buzz as well.”
On Calgary G Mike Smith: “We had some go in tonight for sure and that always feels good, but you saw how well he played in the first two games. I mean, he can come back and steal another one, so we just need to do a good job of getting traffic in front and putting pucks on net. I don’t know how many shots we had, but it felt like a lot, so if we put that many on net, some are bound to go in.”
Colorado C Nathan MacKinnon
On The Bounces In Playoffs: “I think we could have been up 2-0 in Game 1, you know really, so that’s the way it is.
Our first bounce was on (Colorado LW J.T.) Compher’s goal. We got a couple tonight. Obviously, almost 60 shots is a good sign. We’re being very aggressive. Guys are involved and we’re having shooter mentality and things like that. We feel good but at the same time, we got to move on. It’s one win – I guess two wins now – but we have to re-group and get ready for a huge game on Wednesday.”
On The Power Play: “It’s huge. We were struggling. I guess I shouldn’t say struggling, we just couldn’t score. A lot of good looks again tonight. We probably could have had a couple more. We got what we needed to. We got up 2-0 and then kind of ran away from there.”
Calgary D Travis Hamonic
On Tonight’s Game: “You’ve got to let it go. You’ve got to move on. That wasn’t even close to a good enough game for us and at the same time you have to learn from it and move forward. We said it all year, it just doesn’t matter at this point now. We’re starting to prepare for the next game right now and that’s all you can do is move forward and know that wasn’t good enough. We know that, and start preparing for the next one.”
On Responding In Game 4: “Well we shouldn’t have been flat. Should have been going, so we’ll respond. We have all year, and we’ll be ready.”
Calgary D Mark Giordano
On Tonight’s Game: “We got down and then we just played basically high-risk hockey for the rest of the night and they made us pay every time. I think everything’s got to go up, that’s obviously not even close to where we can be, when we give up that many shots and then they had a lot of quality looks. We’ve got to re-group here, stick together as a team, but we know our compete level, number one, has to go way up and we’ve got to be smarter with our decisions with the puck and our pinches, everything. Across the board, there wasn’t much good, honestly, throughout the night and made that team look and feel good all night. They looked like they were making plays and they were feeling good about themselves, obviously, putting that many pucks away. We’ll come back, we’ll re-group and we need to win this next one and get it back to our home-ice advantage.”
On The Team’s Play: “We gave up almost 60 shots, it was just one mistake after the other. It felt like, especially after they got those first couple goals, we were trying to get the game back in one shift, all of us. It starts with me, I think trying to do to much out there comes back and we’ve just got to play patient, play smart, especially in the first 10 minutes in this building, and we’ll be fine.”