MacKinnon Records His First Playoff Hat Trick

Nathan MacKinnon seemingly steps up his game when the NHL's second season begins, and he has proven to be a big-time performer through the first two games of the 2021 playoffs.
The Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, native scored three goals and added an assist on Wednesday night and now has seven points (five goals, two assists) through two games of the postseason for the Colorado Avalanche.
"I don't know if I am at another level, pucks are going in right now, I guess. All my goals are with great screens in front," said MacKinnon. "Landy, Mikko are beasts down low, and you know honestly without those guys battling and mucking it up in front when I am up high those pucks don't go in, and everyone is helping out for sure."
In the first two games of the postseason, the Avs' line of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen has combined for 16 points (six goals, 10 assists), and all three are in the top four scorers in the early goings of this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs.

MacKinnon's hat trick led the Colorado to a 6-3 win over the St. Louis Blues at Ball Arena, and the Avs now lead the Round 1 series 2-0.

His three-goal performance was a night 24 years in the making as he became the first Avalanche player with a hat trick in the postseason since Valeri Kamensky on April 24, 1997 in Game 5 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals versus the Chicago Blackhawks. It is the 10th in franchise playoff history and the fourth since the team moved to Denver.
MacKinnon's four-point night in Game 2 matches his career best in the playoffs and came two nights after he recorded three points (two goals, one assist) to open the series on Monday.
"He's obviously one of our leading players and like I said before, our first line has been massive these first couple of games," Joonas Donskoi said of MacKinnon. "I know that about him, that he usually gets big in the playoffs, and that's exactly what he's done here in these first couple of games. Five goals, that's pretty great, so we are happy to have him playing for our team."
In addition to his scoring touch, MacKinnon made an impact in other areas of the game as well and in his leadership. He finished with two hits, three takeaways and went 8-for-11 in the faceoff dot, including going 5-for-6 against Ryan O'Reilly, one of the league's best at faceoffs for the past few seasons.
St. Louis had a five-minute power play midway through the third period and got one tally on it to make it a 3-2 game, and at the TV timeout after the marker MacKinnon and team captain Landeskog gathered the squad on the bench to discuss and settle things down. MacKinnon scored his second of the night shortly after that to re-extend Colorado's lead. though Mike Hoffman tallied 15 seconds later to pull the Blues back within one with 4:20 remaining in regulation.
"We get a big goal from Nate, they answer back, obviously I don't like the rush coverage on that goal, but it is what it is," said head coach Jared Bednar. "The guys found a way to dig in and get the job done after going through the five-minute major. Nate got the guys together on the bench, had a little chat, so did Landy, and off we went. They answer the bell and get us a couple big goals for us."

MacKinnon completed his hat trick with 12 seconds remaining in regulation when he scored into an empty net, a tally that Landeskog and Rantanen assisted on.
His parents were also part of the 7,739 fans in the stands and watched as the hats started flying onto the ice.
"They have been with me every step of the way. I am so glad they got to get up here and see the playoffs," he said. "I guess they keep showing them on TV, I am sure they don't really love that, but I know they are really happy for me and for the whole team."

THREE POINTS FOR DONNY

Joonas Donskoi tied his career highs with two goals and three points in the victory. He also had three points (one goal, two assists) on April 16, 2018 with the San Jose Sharks against the Anaheim Ducks, and the last time he found the back of the net twice in the playoffs came in his rookie season on April 22, 2016 with the Sharks against the Los Angeles Kings.
Donskoi's first goal came 35 seconds after the opening faceoff, the fastest to start a game in Avalanche history (since 1995-96). The previous mark of 59 seconds had been set twice, once by Peter Forsberg in Game 2 of the 1996 Western Conference Quarterfinals versus the Vancouver Canucks (April 18, 1996) and again by Rob Blake in Game 3 of the 2002 conference quarterfinals at the San Jose Sharks (May 6, 2002).

"I was just trying to get to the net," he said of the game-opening marker. "It was a good forecheck by Landy to get the puck back to us and Gravy shot it to the net, so I was just trying to get there and trying to get a deflection."
It was the second fastest from the start of a playoff contest in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history. The record of 29 seconds was set by Quebec's Wilf Paiement in Game 2 of the 1982 division final against the Boston Bruins.
Donskoi opened the scoring for the Avs on seven occasions during the regular season and scored nine of his 17 goals on the campaign in the first period, tied for the second most in the league behind the Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews (12).

LANDY GETS AVS STARTED

Gabriel Landeskog didn't officially record an assist on the first goal of the game, but his work down low helped create the opportunity.
Landeskog registered a hit on Blues' captain Ryan O'Reilly before helping the puck get to Ryan Graves at the point and then being a moving screen in front of St. Louis' goalie when Donskoi tipped the puck into the cage.
"Just a beast. Of course I saw it, I could hear it. I hear the hit; I hear the crowd's reaction," MacKinnon said of Landeskog's efforts on the goal. "Without that forecheck, without that extra work ethic that he always brings, we don't score that goal. Great play by Landy and great tip by Donny as well."

SERIES SHIFTS TO ST. LOUIS

Colorado leads the first-round series against St. Louis 2-0. The best-of-seven set now moves to Enterprise Center for Games 3 and 4 on Friday and Sunday.
Game 3 is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MT and the contest will be broadcasted on Altitude and USA Network in the United States as well as on Sportsnet 360 and TVA Sports 2 in Canada.
"We got outplayed the last 30 minutes of the game, so we need a response in Game 3, if anything," said MacKinnon. "Obviously, we got the win. Grubi played amazing, made some huge saves. But we got to look ourselves in the mirror for Game 3 in St. Louis and bring a better effort, and that's what we are focused on."
When leading 2-0 after two games of a best-of-seven set, the Avalanche franchise holds an all-time series record of 13-3 (.813).

MORE POSTGAME NOTES

The Avalanche has outscored St. Louis 10-4 through the first two contests of the series and has an 85-58 advantage in shots.
Colorado finished 2-for-2 on the power play and is 3-for-5 (60 percent) through the first two games, tops in the league in power-play percentage in the postseason.
Nathan MacKinnon's seven game-winning goals in the postseason move him past Alex Tanguay to take over fourth place in franchise playoff game-winners. His 36 assists move him past Valeri Kamensky and Adam Foote (35) into sixth place in Avalanche/Nordiques history.
MacKinnon now has 25 playoff goals, surpassing Peter Stastny and Claude Lemieux (24) and into a tie with Valeri Kamensky for sixth all-time in franchise history.
Mikko Rantanen recorded two assists for his second straight multi-point contest, extending his playoff point streak to 12 games dating back to Game 3 of the first round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Arizona Coyotes (Aug. 15).
Devon Toews recorded two points (two assists) to equal his career best in the postseason (May 3, 2019 at Carolina with the New York Islanders).