BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) \u2014 Nathan MacKinnon was in such a zone on Monday, the Colorado Avalanche’s top-line center blanked on his second goal celebration.<\/p>\n
“Stick twirl? I don’t think I did that, did I?” MacKinnon said, after his two-goal outing helped seal a 3-1 victory over the winless Buffalo Sabres. “I’ll have to rewatch it.”<\/p>\n
Upon review, MacKinnon smiled when showed a replay of the stick twirl and punctuating his celebration with a fist pump after his snap shot from the high slot beat Alex Lyon on the short side to cap the scoring with 8:01 left in the second period.<\/p>\n
“I guess I did,” he said. “Definitely excited about the goal. Don’t usually score from that far out, so just happy about it.”<\/p>\n
He is no stranger to scoring. He’s scored at least 20 goals 10 times over his first 12 seasons, including a career-best 51 in 2023-24, his lone NHL MVP season.<\/p>\n
McKinnon is already on a roll in his 13th season with the Avalanche, who are off to a 3-0-1 start. He has four goals, including the winner in a 2-1 victory over Utah, and four assists.<\/p>\n
Though defenseman Cale Makar’s second-period goal counted as the game-winner, MacKinnon’s contributions proved valuable for a Colorado team still adjusting to the Eastern time zone, facing a 12:30 p.m. puck drop and following a grueling 5-4 shootout loss to Dallas in Denver on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
With Colorado being outshot 5-1 in the opening minutes, MacKinnon opened the scoring by taking Martin Necas’ pass at the right boards and cutting across the middle before backhanding a shot into the open left side 3:14 into the game.<\/p>\n
“He knows the circumstances we’re in, and creating offense the first part of the game was a little bit of a struggle,” coach Jared Bednar said.<\/p>\n
“It’s the type of performance you kind of need sometimes,” he added. “And (MacKinnon) certainly was our best offensive player.”<\/p>\n
Bednar said MacKinnon’s best play actually came on a goal that eventually didn’t count. MacKinnon powered his way up the left boards and out-muscled several defenders in setting up Necas’ goal that was disallowed after the Sabres successfully challenged the Avalanche for being offside.<\/p>\n
“It was obviously offside, and it was the right call,” Bednar said. “But he had a really strong night. Relentless and tenacious the whole night.”<\/p>\n
MacKinnon was disappointed he didn’t score more in assessing how quickly he’s gelled on a line with Necas, who was acquired in a trade that sent Mikko Rantanen to Carolina in January, and Artturi Lehkonen.<\/p>\n
“(Necas) creates so much time and space for me on his delays … And Lekhy makes it all possible with his routes and his net presence,” MacKinnon said. “You know, Marty set me up for 10 chances tonight and only got two.”<\/p>\n
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