Nathan MacKinnon netted four goals on Wednesday night at Ball Arena in Denver, leading his Colorado Avalanche to a convincing 6-2 victory over the Capitals. MacKinnon singlehandedly supplied the difference in the game, and his first three goals formed a natural hat trick in the front half of the second period; they were scored in a span of just 6 minutes and 37 seconds.
It wasn’t just MacKinnon, either; the other Colorado stars came out to play as well. Mikko Rantanen rolled up a five-point night (one goal, four assists) and blueliner Cale Makar had a goal and a pair of helpers.
Wednesday’s loss leaves the Caps saddled with their first set of three consecutive losses in regulation this season. The setback also leaves them empty-handed for their four-game road trip as they prepare to play the final game of the journey on Saturday afternoon in Dallas.
“I liked a lot of the things that we did tonight, to be honest with you,” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery. “I know the scoreboard will not reflect that whatsoever, but I liked a lot of the things that we did from an energy standpoint, structure standpoint, the offensive zone, and even some entry stuff, which has been a struggle for us. Being able to generate at least a few – I wouldn’t say Grade A [scoring chances] – but some looks there, of us being able to attack off a short 3-on-2 and some of those scenarios.
“I liked a lot. Obviously, the difference in the game is three of the best players on the planet.”
After falling behind early and chasing each of the first two games of the trip, the Caps were able to muster a much better start to Wednesday’s game. In the early going, they handled Colorado’s speed well, and didn’t give up much in the way of scoring chances or looks at their net. Avs’ goalie Alexandar Georgiev had to make a key early stop on Rasmus Sandin from the slot to keep the game scoreless.
Washington had a pair of first-period power plays, too, and the first of those extra man opportunities produced solid scoring chances for both T.J. Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov.
On the second of those Washington power plays, the game took a turn. Colorado blueliner Cale Makar scored a shorthanded goal – the first shorty of his NHL career – off the rush from the slot at 19:37, staking the Avs to a 1-0 lead at first intermission. It marked the third time in as many games on the trip that an opposing defenseman scored the game’s first goal, and the second time that goal was shorthanded.
“Obviously we’re having trouble scoring goals,” says Strome. “So when it comes to little details, we’ve got to find a way to keep those ones out of our net. Like obviously we can’t be getting scored on on the power play, and our power play just wasn’t good enough tonight.”
Giving up a shorthanded goal is always problematic, but it’s worse when it happens in the final minute of a period, especially when the rest of that period was quite good, and against an elite opponent.
“It’s a bad goal,” says Carbery. “We can’t give that goal up. The special teams part for sure, we have to do a better job.”
Remarkably, Makar’s goal – the 76th of his NHL career in just his 281st game in the League – vaults him to the top of Colorado’s all-time franchise (Nordiques/Avalanche) history, breaking a tie with Tyson Barrie (75).
The MacKinnon Show started early in the second period, and it was fueled by special teams at the start. With ex-Avalanche forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel in the box for holding, Colorado needed just one shot to double its lead, a MacKinnon one-timer from the left dot at 2:39, off a perfect tee-up from Rantanen.
MacKinnon has recorded at least a point in each of his team’s first 24 home games this season, and he has notched at least a point in 31 of his last 32 games overall.
Minutes later, Caps’ defenseman Ethan Bear was boxed for sailing the puck over the glass, and MacKinnon struck again from the same spot with another one-timer, this one off a set-up feed from Makar at 7:00 of the second, extending the Avalanche’s lead to 3-0.
MacKinnon completed his natural hat trick at 9:16 with Colorado’s first 5-on-5 goal of the game, putting a backhander to the shelf after taking a feed from Rantanen on a 2-on-1 rush. With his third goal of the frame, MacKinnon became the fifth Avalanche player to score three goals in a period, and he recorded the fifth fastest hat trick in franchise history.
In the front half of the third, Strome – skating in his 400th career NHL game – potted his own rebound from the slot to break Georgiev’s shutout spell, cutting the Avs’ lead to 4-1 at 7:26.
Colorado got that one back when Rantanen swatted a puck out of midair and into the cage at 10:20 of the third.
MacKinnon completed the second four-goal game of his NHL career with a 4-on-4 goal at 16:14 of the third, with Rantanen collecting his third primary assist and his fifth point of the night.
During the same 4-on-4 sequence, Strome netted his second goal of the game and his team-leading 18th tally of the season, closing out the scoring at 17:37.
Next, the Caps head to Dallas for the trip finale, and their final game before their bye week and the All-Star break. After facing the Stars on Saturday, the Caps will be idle for the following nine days.
“At 5-on-5, we didn't play that poorly tonight,” says Washington winger Tom Wilson. “I mean, the first period, where there's a lot of good things happening, I think that adds to the frustration, when you're just ringing them off the bar and pucks aren't going in. You're getting good looks; they're just not finding their way to the back of the net.
“We’ve got to keep doing the good things. We’ve got to do a little bit of a better job of controlling the momentum against high octane teams, and we're going to have no time to take a break here. [We’re facing] a really good Dallas team, and it's a huge game. We’ve got to be ready for it.”
