Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon speaks up on stylistic shift from Kings to Wild

It was nothing short of a wild beginning to the Western Conference Semifinal between the Colorado Avalanche and the Minnesota Wild on Sunday evening from Ball Arena in Denver.

The Avalanche took leads of 3-0 and 4-3 before the Wild went out in front 5-4 thanks to a shorthanded goal, only to have the Avalanche respond with three straight goals to take a 7-5 lead. While the Wild cut it to one with their sixth tally of the night, the Avalanche buried them with two more goals, winning Gmae 1 by a 9-6 final score.

The Avalanche, fresh off a sweep of the Los Angeles Kings in the opening round of the playoffs, have noticed a definite difference in play between that of the Kings and the Wild, as explained by forward Nathan Mackinnon following the game.

“The Kings didn’t activate their D once in that series,” MacKinnon said of the Kings via Peter Baugh on X. “Obviously, that was their game plan, just to kind of check us to death. Minny’s very dynamic, so it’s a big challenge.”

MacKinnon, who was among the NHL’s top points leaders during the regular season and helped the Avalanche to the President’s Trophy as the top-ranked club overall, scored a goal while adding two assists as part of the win. His friend and teammate Cale Makar scored twice and added an assist, while defenseman Devon Toews scored and added three assists.

The Avalanche and Wild will play once more in Denver for Game 2 on Tuesday before the series shifts to St. Paul, Minnesota, for Games 3 and 4.

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