Nathan MacKinnon takes home an honor for his dazzling play in Finland
Nov 7, 2022, 1:21 PM
Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon keeps winning.
Fresh of his first Stanley Cup title in June, Mackinnon won a different type of honor on Monday. Sure, it’s not as exciting as a championship, but it’s still a cool award. MacKinnon was named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week after his excellent two games in Finland.
MacKinnon had a ridiculous seven assists in just two games against the Columbus Blue Jackets, with the Avs earning wins by final scores of 6-3 and 5-1. Think about that for a second. Colorado scored 11 goals and MacKinnon assisted on seven of them. That’s wild.
He leads the Avalanche in points on the year with 19. Mikko Rantanen, who scored a hat trick in his home country, has 16. Cale Makar has 13 and despite battling a “lower-body injury,” Valeri Nichushkin checks in with 12 points.
MacKinnon established a record for helpers in a regular-season NHL game played outside North America with four assists (including three in the third period) in the 6-3 victory. He added three more helpers in the 5-1 win to become the NHL’s all-time leader in both assists (7) and points (8) in contests staged outside North America.
Well deserved 👏#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/pBUX0auf3W
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) November 7, 2022
The Avs got back on track after a little bit of a Stanley Cup hangover to start the year, but now boast a 6-4-1 record, good for 13 points. They trail the Dallas Stars (17 points) and Winnipeg Jets (15 points) for the top spot in the Central Division.
Colorado, and MacKinnon, will be back in action at home on Thursday night against the Nashville Predators. We’ll see what No. 29 has in store for an encore.
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