Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar talked about Nathan Mackinnon’s 10-game goal drought after their 4-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. Mackinnon has not scored a goal in his last 10 games. He last scored a goal in Colorado’s 6-4 win against Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 9. MacKinnon recorded 7 shots on goal in 23:29 minutes of ice time against Edmonton.
Bednar said MacKinnon is playing hard and contributing, even if he hasn’t scored recently.
“We’re asking him to do a lot, on a nightly basis, those guys are playing a lot, playing all situations,” Bednar said. “I don’t know about the dry spell for Nate, (he) hasn’t scored in a little bit, but I think he’s still been impactful and playing hard.”
“So it just seems like, if it isn’t those guys scoring, scoring is tough to come by, you know? And, yeah, you got guys on the other team. We’re trying to check against multiple lines with their line, and it’s some heavy lifting for those guys right now. So it seems like some nights are running out of gas.
Recently, Nathan MacKinnon recorded 5 shots on goal in 26 minutes of ice time against the Dallas Stars on Friday and followed that with 10 shots on goal in 27 minutes against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday. However, he has only managed three assists in his last eight games.
Despite this slump, MacKinnon remains one of the top point scorers this NHL season, currently tied for second with 35 points. If he keeps this pace, he’s projected to score around 118 points, according to ESPN.
The Avalanche have a record of 13-12-0, placing them 4th in the Central Division with 26 points. They’ve only won two of their last five games but have secured four victories in their last seven outings.
In their latest match, the Avalanche struggled against the Oilers. Colorado took an early lead with a power-play goal from Nikolai Kovalenko in the first period, but Edmonton’s Kasperi Kapanen quickly tied it up, assisted by Connor McDavid. In the second period, Vasily Podkolzin scored to put the Oilers ahead 2-1, and Brett Kulak extended the lead to 3-1 early in the third. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins sealed the victory with an empty-net goal at 18:28.
Alexandar Georgiev made 28 saves for the Avalanche, while Stuart Skinner stopped 27 shots for Edmonton. To overcome their inconsistency, the Avalanche will need Nathan MacKinnon and other players to step up their offensive game.
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