Nathan MacKinnon, not of Earth

One year ago today, the Colorado Avalanche lost to the Ottawa Senators in a closer-than-it-should-have-been 2-1 game. The Avs were outshot 42-23 and both goals had been scored by Alex Burrows, whom the Senators acquired the day before at the NHL trade deadline. Colorado’s lone goal was scored by Rene Bourque, with assists to Nathan MacKinnon (his 30th) and Tyson Barrie (his 22nd).

The Senators were on their way to an eventual loss in overtime of game seven of the Eastern Conference finals, falling just one goal short of a Stanley Cup setee. The Avalanche dropped to 17-42-3, en route to an embarrassing 48-point season.

Fast forward to Friday night, 2018: The Senators won a thrilling game over the Vegas Golden Knights, but that’s meaningless in what is already a lost season. The Avalanche, on the other hand, was led by a MacKinnon five-point night in blitzing the Minnesota Wild at home, 7-1, in a game that temporarily moved them into the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. (They have since lost that spot, thanks but no thanks to the Columbus Blue Jackets, who lost to Anaheim).

The five points took MacKinnon from tenth on the NHL’s scoring list to fourth. His 76 points have come in just 56 games. The scoring outburst only continued the incredible season MacKinnon is having. Despite missing eight games with an injury, he remains firmly in the hunt for the Hart Trophy, given annually to the player deemed to be the MVP of the NHL.

Coming into Friday, Wild forward Eric Staal was also beginning to gain steam as a candidate for the Hart. To anyone who watched this game, however, there was no doubt as to who was the true MVP candidate. While Staal sputtered to just two shots on goal and managed to be on the ice for three of Colorado’s goals, MacKinnon scored two of his own on six shots on net and added three assists. It was his second five-point night of the season.

Colorado’s top line of MacKinnon at center, flanked by Gabe Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, has been unstoppable much of the season since coming together in October. The line briefly broke apart when MacKinnon was hurt and offense dried up for the Avalanche, but they’re back together and playing their best hockey so far.

“Yeah, I think you could say that,” MacKinnon said. “I thought we had a pretty solid road trip. We’ve been doing our thing at home for a while now. We had a little break from each other when I got hurt and then coming back with one another we kind of picked up where we left off. Tonight was a fun one.”

Coming off a loss to the Arizona Coyotes last night, the Avs did what they had to do against a tired Wild team.

“They’re on a back-to-back so I think we pounced on some heavy legs maybe,” MacKinnon said. “You know, we’ve been really good at home, really comfortable. I thought [Landeskog] got us going. We had some chances early. We got pucks to the net.”

After a slow start to the season, MacKinnon has recorded 71 points in his last 46 games played, an 82-game pace of 126 points. As MacKinnon leads the charge of this young Avalanche team to a potential playoff spot, they aren’t thinking about the wild card.

They want more.

“It’s not just the Ducks,” MacKinnon said of the team who overtook them in the standings shortly after the Avalanche game concluded. “We’re not just trying to chase the last Wild Card spot. We’re trying to get top three in our division and solidify a guaranteed spot. Tonight was a good start. We don’t want to go to OT, but if we do so be it. We’ve got some real good players in here and we’re feeling it.”

There was no better example of MacKinnon feeling it than when he walked into the offensive zone and fired a wrister just a few steps inside the blue line, beating Devan Dubnyk again for his second of the game and putting Colorado ahead 4-0.

“I think I surprised him with a quick shot,” he said. “I guess I’m hot but I think that’s going in if I’m cold, too. It was a quick shot that surprised him through his legs.”

MacKinnon’s confidence in his own abilities is reflected in the team’s attitude as a whole. When Erik Johnson went down, they could have folded up shop and felt sorry for themselves down the stretch. Instead, they got resilient. They got angry and defiant.

And tonight, against a team that had their number for so many years, Nathan MacKinnon strapped his teammates to his back and led them to their second consecutive beatdown of the Wild. Minnesota used to torment this franchise and were in their heads the last several years. After being outscored 14-3 in their last two trips to Denver, it’s fair to say Nathan MacKinnon’s Avalanche aren’t having any more of that nonsense.

From leading scorer of the NHL’s worst team to the beating Hart of the unlikeliest playoff contender, Nathan MacKinnon has made all things seem possible once again in Colorado.