{"id":246,"date":"2026-05-08T15:04:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T15:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=246"},"modified":"2026-05-08T15:04:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T15:04:34","slug":"nathan-mackinnon-delivers-off-big-hits-scoring-as-avalanche-seize-a-2-0-edge-in-series-with-wild-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=246","title":{"rendered":"Nathan MacKinnon delivers off big hits, scoring as Avalanche seize a 2-0 edge in series with Wild"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>DENVER<\/strong> | Nathan MacKinnon is known for his speed and his scoring. He can deliver some big hits, too.<\/p>\n<p>The Colorado Avalanche forward crunched Minnesota\u2019s Quinn Hughes and Matt Boldy in the third period as part of a big game where he scored a goal and notched two assists.<\/p>\n<p>Just Nate being playoff Nate.<\/p>\n<p>He downplayed the hits after a 5-2 win in Game 2 on Tuesday night gave Colorado a 2-0 lead in the second-round series with the Wild. He was modest about his offensive production as well.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cJust excited to play,\u201d said MacKinnon, who scored a league-leading 53 goals in the regular season. \u201cPlayoff hockey, obviously, the best the time of year. Just excited and just trying to have a good start.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>MacKinnon joined some exclusive company with his third straight three-point playoff game. The only players to accomplish that feat over the last 40 years are Leon Draisaitl (2022), Mikko Rantanen (2025), Joe Pavelski (2010), Joe Sakic (1997) and Dennis Maruk (1986), according to NHL Stats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was unbelievable tonight on both sides of the puck,\u201d Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. \u201cThe physicality, the defending details, the hunger to check pucks back in all three zones, and the speed and pace that he played with early in the game \u2014 it was like he was shot out of a cannon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His teammates concurred.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHaving Nate makes my job a lot easier, for sure,\u201d captain Gabriel Landeskog said. \u201cHe\u2019s our driving force offensively and tonight, really since the playoffs started, defensively, he\u2019s been a beast as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>MacKinnon was credited with two hits in the game \u2014 one on Hughes, which knocked the talented defenseman to the ice, and another on Boldy, who went hard into the boards.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt wasn\u2019t that big of a hit,\u201d MacKinnon said of his collision with Hughes. \u201cHe\u2019s one of the best players in the world and he\u2019s so hard to contain and you\u2019re just trying to do the best that you can. He\u2019s going to create a lot of stuff. I think everyone\u2019s being more physical. The whole team is trying to ramp that up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Wild head home for Game 3 on Saturday searching for answers. They tried a new goaltender for Game 2 \u2014 going with Filip Gustavsson over Jesper Wallstedt \u2014 but the Avalanche still scored five goals. That, coupled with their nine-goal spurt in Game 1, gives them 14 for the series. It\u2019s the most in the first two games of a playoff series since the Calgary Flames had 15 against the Los Angeles Kings in 1988.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re a great team. They play super-fast, super-dynamic,\u201d Boldy said. \u201cObviously, they have some incredible players. The biggest thing is just staying above them and not giving them those odd-man rushes, because obviously they\u2019re pretty special players make special plays.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>AP NHL playoffs: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/stanley-cup and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nhl<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=240\">Colorado\u2019s hidden human trafficking problem: It\u2019s closer than you think<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=242\">Semien and Soto homer, leading the surging Mets 10-5 over the Rockies<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=244\">Lindsey Vonn nominated to US ski team for next season as she faces long recovery from Olympic crash<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DENVER | Nathan MacKinnon is known for his speed and his scoring. He can deliver some big hits, too. The Colorado Avalanche forward crunched Minnesota\u2019s Quinn Hughes and Matt Boldy in the third period as part of a big game where he scored a goal and notched two assists. Just Nate being playoff Nate. He [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[361,362,363,364,365,366],"class_list":["post-246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-colorado-avalanche","tag-gabriel-landeskog","tag-jared-bednar","tag-minnesota-wild","tag-nathan-mackinnon","tag-quinn-hughes"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nathan MacKinnon delivers off big hits, scoring as Avalanche seize a 2-0 edge in series with Wild - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=246\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nathan MacKinnon delivers off big hits, scoring as Avalanche seize a 2-0 edge in series with Wild - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DENVER | Nathan MacKinnon is known for his speed and his scoring. 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