{"id":508005,"date":"2026-03-17T15:49:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T15:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/508005\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T15:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T15:49:12","slug":"mackinnon-called-out-bednar-with-stars-next-will-avs-coach-listen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/508005\/","title":{"rendered":"MacKinnon called out Bednar. With Stars next, will Avs coach listen?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nathan MacKinnon unloaded four shots on the Penguins<\/a>. He saved at least four more for his coaches afterwards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like seven (defensemen),\u201d said the Avalanche star, whose West-leading crew hosts Dallas, the No. 2 seed in the conference<\/a>, on Wednesday night at Ball Arena. \u201cDifferent D pairs every shift isn\u2019t great. The flow is off, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Communication? Also off.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need everyone on the same page,\u201d MacKinnon stressed after a puzzling, plodding 7-2 home loss to Pittsburgh late Monday. \u201cWe need more communication before the game (and in) meetings. Really know what we\u2019re going to do over and over again \u2026 \u00a0it felt like we\u2019ve been pretty good, and then Winnipeg (happened) and then (Monday) was just off again<\/a> \u2026 can\u2019t really explain it. It\u2019s been like that all season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strategy? Also, also off.<\/p>\n

\u201cLines and (defensive) pairs need to sit down and go through clips and figure out what our system is right now,\u201d MacKinnon offered. \u201cToo much passing around the perimeter. The only good shift of the game we had was when (Brent Burns) took four shots from the strong side and then they (got) one on the net. So that\u2019s how we have to play. We\u2019re too perimeter. We don\u2019t shoot enough. We haven\u2019t had 30 shots in four games now. Which is very, very rare for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lineups? Also, also, also off.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think chemistry matters, and if a guy\u2019s used to playing center, filling in \u2026 it\u2019s no one\u2019s fault,\u201d MacKinnon continued. \u201c(We\u2019ve had) a lot of different line combinations lately, for everybody, so it\u2019s hard. It sounds like an excuse, but (Monday) was just bad, too\u2026 It was one of those nights that just (stunk).\u201d<\/p>\n

By cracky, did Nate and the Avs stink up the joint Monday before a full house and far too many happy Yinzers<\/a>?<\/p>\n

The defense stunk. The juice stunk. The power play stunk, although we\u2019re used to that. Scott Wedgewood stunk in goal (three goals allowed in five shots faced), which we\u2019re not used to at all. Mackenzie Blackwood replaced Wedgie after Colorado trailed 3-1 and stunk slightly less.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuys getting beat, guys getting out-competed, just not digging in enough,\u201d was how coach Jared Bednar explained it later. \u201cAnd we\u2019re giving up easy chances \u2026 that start is not on (Wedgewood) at all. Like, what\u2019s he gonna do? Like some of the chances that we\u2019re giving up are guys all alone at the net-front, kind of the same as Edmonton. We just talked about it, right? So we fixed it for Winnipeg, and then it\u2019s back again (Monday).\u201d<\/p>\n

For Bednar, that Penguins tilt was damning on two fronts. The first was the performance itself \u2014 a discombobulated mess, a good hockey team making October mistakes in mid-March. The Avs handed the locals a perfect storm of bad: Sleepy goaltending, lousy shooting (two goals in 27 attempts), and professionals playing like complete strangers defensively. Which, to hear MacKinnon tell it, maybe they were.<\/p>\n

The second pain was the timing. Between a disastrous first period and a sloppy second on Chopper Circle, Dallas got busy falling at home to Utah, 6-3, ending a 15-point streak for the hard-charging Stars.<\/p>\n

The Mammoth handed Dallas its first regulation loss since January 22 and its first home defeat in two months. Monday evening was a golden chance to open up at least a little breathing space before Wednesday\u2019s visit from Dallas (42-15-10), which trails Colorado (44-13-9) by just three points (97-94), even though the Avs have a game in hand.<\/p>\n

The Penguins (34-18-15) were at the end of a grueling, four-city, six-day road trip. Oh, and were playing without Sidney Crosby. So, yeah, not good. Not good at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know everyone is talking about Wednesday,\u201d Colorado center Brock Nelson mused, \u201cbut this one (Monday) was equally as big.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Avs didn\u2019t show it. Colorado managed to force a tie game \u2014 1-1 \u2014 for all of 15 seconds before Pittsburgh\u2019s Anthony Mantha zipped past the entire Avs defense and, with Cale Makar riding his back, slotted home a 2-1 Penguins lead just 4:23 into the tilt.<\/p>\n

About eight-and-a-half minutes later, Evgeni Malkin was left all alone at point-blank range to fire the visitors into a 3-1 cushion. Bednar responded by yanking Wedgewood, only for Elmer Soderblom to beat Blackwood 43 seconds later to make it a 4-1 contest. And no contest at all, really.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat kind of (stuff) \u00a0happens, but you don\u2019t want it to, no matter what,\u201d Wedgewood told me after the game. \u201cAnd yeah, I mean, if you dwell on it, you\u2019re in a much worse situation. I got a good (eye) on that. I just lost it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you guys get caught looking ahead at all?\u201d I wondered.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, (Wednesday is) obviously important,\u201d Wedgewood replied. \u201cEveryone knows it\u2019s on schedule. It\u2019s circled. You know what it means \u2026 (You) get up and prepare. But no, there\u2019s still a lot of hockey before the games really, really matter, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, some games matter a heck of a lot more than others. The best three teams in hockey all play in the Central Division. I hate the Presidents\u2019 Trophy more than the next guy,<\/a> but that No. 1 seed has more weight this time around.<\/p>\n

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Avs topping the Stanley Cup bracket would also condemn Dallas and Minnesota (38-18-12) to play one another in the first round \u2014 an absolute cage fight that, in the NHL\u2019s infinite wisdom, would immediately eliminate somebody who could win the whole thing. You know, the way the Avs were eliminated in seven games by Dallas 11 months ago.<\/a> If the Stars leapfrog Colorado in the standings? Hello, St. Paul.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it was a big game (Monday),\u201d MacKinnon said. \u201cThat was a game we kind of had to win. So, hopefully, we can bounce back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hopefully, Bednar smells what Nate Dogg is cooking. Hopefully, he listens.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of those breakdowns, I think, can be easily cured,\u201d the coach reflected. \u201cBut, I mean, I think we\u2019re going (to have to) talk more and we\u2019ve got to get more competitive. A couple of them, we got beat up the ice (to have) guys all alone. A couple of them, we got beat off the walls (to have) guys all alone. And it\u2019s just not good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

It won\u2019t be against Dallas, either. We\u2019ll know Thursday morning whether Pittsburgh was a wake-up call or a warning siren. Buckle up.<\/p>\n

Want more Avalanche news? Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nathan MacKinnon unloaded four shots on the Penguins. He saved at least four more for his coaches afterwards.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5117],"tags":[193,1650,1466,1772,1034,1116,192,144,196,147,5278,556,7145,4452,5,1180,1123,161,1262,517,4,2565,1653,768,43,350,14,104,197,51],"class_list":["post-508005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas-stars","tag-avalanche","tag-avalanche-takes","tag-ball-arena","tag-brent-burns","tag-brock-nelson","tag-cale-makar","tag-colorado","tag-colorado-avalanche","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-stars","tag-dallasstars","tag-denver","tag-front-range","tag-history","tag-hockey","tag-latest-headlines","tag-mackenzie-blackwood","tag-minnesota","tag-more-avalanche-news","tag-nathan-mackinnon","tag-nhl","tag-scott-wedgewood","tag-sean-keeler","tag-sidney-crosby","tag-sports","tag-sports-columnists","tag-stanley-cup","tag-stanley-cup-playoffs","tag-stars","tag-utah"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116245310031287759","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}