Nathan MacKinnon scoring against Robin Lehner. May 30, 2021; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) skates at Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner (90) in the second period of game one in the second round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
NHLBy Andrew Bucholtz on

The Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights kicked off Game 1 of their West Division final playoff series Sunday, and the scoring was all Avalanche for much of the game. One particularly impressive goal was the one that made it 6-1, which came from Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon. MacKinnon took a pass near center ice, then broke in alone with speed and fired home past Vegas goalie Robin Lehner:

Here’s another angle of that:

That was MacKinnon’s second goal on the night. Here was his first, off an impressive low wrist shot through Lehner’s five-hole:

MacKinnon also helped set up Gabriel Landeskog for another second-period goal. So he’s having quite the night, as are the Avalanche. And these marked MacKinnon’s seventh and eighth goals of these playoffs, impressive considering that Colorado only played four first-round games given their sweep of the St. Louis Blues. That further solidifies position atop the playoff goals leaderboard. We’ll see if he can keep adding to those totals.

[NHL.com; photo from Ron Chenoy/USA Today Sports]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

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