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The morning after his team’s quest for a second championship was potentially derailed by stunning pregame news and a substandard Game 4 performance, Nathan MacKinnon did the one thing he knows best.
He went to work.
MacKinnon was one of a few regulars on the ice Tuesday for a Colorado Avalanche optional practice. He spent a lot of time working on finishing around the net. At one point, he stood with his back to the goal and attempted to tip dozens of shots from Jonathan Drouin and Gabe Landeskog.
“We stunk early. I was bad,” MacKinnon said of his team’s 5-1 loss that has left the Avs in a 3-1 series hole. “I gotta be better, especially early. I thought we had some (chances) … second half of the game. I’m sure they’re just trying to hold the lead, so that’s why we played well, but just not good enough.”
Players on the Avs arrived at Ball Arena for the morning skate Monday bolstered by the news of Jonathan Drouin’s return to the lineup and the idea that a full-strength roster could help them rally from a 2-1 series deficit. Over the course of the day, they found out that Valeri Nichushkin was suspended for a minimum of six months and placed in Stage 3 of the NHL-NHLPA Players Assistance Program, and that defenseman Devon Toews would not be able to play because of illness.
“I don’t got much to say on that,” MacKinnon said of Nichushkin’s situation. “Found out in the morning. Talked to (Chris MacFarland) and (Joe Sakic). Obviously, tough for him, his family and that’s all I’m going to say on that.”
Avs coach Jared Bednar said Tuesday morning that Toews is definitely feeling better and would travel with the team to Dallas. Whether or not Toews will be able to play when Colorado’s season is on the line Wednesday night in Game 5 is to be determined.
If Toews can play, the Avs have essentially just swapped out Nichushkin for Drouin. Colorado was able to defeat Winnipeg without Drouin, but the Avs have also struggled at times when Nichushkin wasn’t available during the regular season either because of injury or his most recent leave of absence to enter the assistance program.
Whether Toews can play or not, the Avalanche must do a better job of creating high-quality scoring chances in the offensive zone. Colorado has been able to possess the puck in the Dallas zone, but creating the caliber of chances the Avs typically get has been much tougher than normal.
“The high-danger chances for our team in this series are few and far between,” Bednar said. “They’re doing a really good job defending it. They’re super aggressive in there, they have numbers around the puck all the time. So we have some things we’ve looked at to try and get more dangerous.”
Colorado’s power play has not scored in three games (0 for 8). Dallas has blocked 51 shots in the past two games. The Avalanche has also still not held a lead in this series, and the Stars’ willingness to sit back and protect the net has been amplified by the Avs’ need to chase the game.
The Avs need a better start. They need to find a way through a stout defensive structure.
Most of all, they need to find a result, or the season ends Wednesday night in Texas.
“I just think the result has to be the last thing we think about,” MacKinnon said. “There’s so many things we have to do in our process and the result will come or it won’t. I think last night, I’m sure a lot of us were thinking about just winning the game, but there are a lot of steps before that we have to do to win the game. And regardless of who we have in the lineup, it doesn’t really change.
“Obviously, we want Val in the lineup and we want (Toews) in the lineup, but I still feel like we’re good enough to win it all. Hopefully, we can just come back (to) home ice and force a Game 6 here.”
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