Avs crush Capitals behind Nathan MacKinnon’s natural hat trick, four total goals and more history

On Wednesday night, Nathan MacKinnon presented more evidence that he’s the NHL’s most talented player, and made Avs history in the process.

MacKinnon’s natural hat trick, coupled with Cale Makar becoming the Avs’ highest-scoring defenseman all-time, propelled them past the tired and lackluster Capitals 6-2 and gave streaking Colorado its 10th win in the last 13 games.

“He’s the best player in the world,” Makar said. “I don’t think it’s really a question at the moment.”

No. 29’s feat was the franchise’s second natural hat trick — three consecutive goals by the same player — and first by an Avalanche player since Joe Sakic pulled it off on March 13, 2003, at Columbus.

Oh, and MacKinnon tacked on a garbage-time lamp-lighter in the final period, tying his Avs single-game record from earlier this season with a fourth goal. He joined Alex Ovechkin as the only players in the last quarter-century to have multiple four-goal games in a season, and MacKinnon’s final goal on Wednesday prompted a thong and a bra to be thrown onto the ice.

“Inappropriate,” MacKinnon quipped.

Amid another big night for him at Ball Arena, MacKinnon also passed Sakic’s franchise record for home point streak to start a season. MacKinnon is now at 24 games, besting Super Joe’s run of 23 games in 2000-01. The NHL record is held by Wayne Gretzky, who tallied points in 40 straight home games for the Kings to begin the 1988-89 season en route to winning the Hart Memorial Trophy.

In all, it was another game where MacKinnon made his NHL foes look like AHL skaters. As usual, MacKinnon was ho-hum about his golden performance.

How does he feel about joining, and passing, Sakic in rare franchise air?

“Not much, honestly,” MacKinnon said. “Joe’s a legend, and pucks are going in for me right now.”

After a five-point night to get to 82 points on the season, how does he feel about leapfrogging Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov (80 points) atop the NHL leaderboard?

“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s 48 games in and I’ve got the most points. There’s nothing rewarded for that.”

And what about another historic four-goal game? The MVP chants from the home crowd whose adoration for him is only equalled by the arena’s hardcourt star, Nikola Jokic?

“I told (our equipment guy) to throw (my scoring pucks) in the crowd,” he said. “I’m not going to keep them, so hopefully people like them. …  I’ve heard (MVP chants) before and I’ve never won MVP, so, it doesn’t mean much. The fans are obviously very supportive, but I’m not getting my hopes up.”

Well, if MacKinnon won’t be boastful, his teammates will do it for him.

“He’s up there (on the Avs’ Mount Rushmore) with Joe for sure, and with (Peter) Forsberg,” said Mikko Rantanen, who also had five points on Wednesday. “With the Stanley Cup we won, that helps his case to already be in that conversation.”

Aside from MacKinnon’s brilliance, Colorado got a significant milestone from its star defenseman, too.

In the final seconds of the first period, Makar jump-started the Avs when he got the puck near center ice off a pass from Andrew Cogliano, blew past a pair of Capitals, and streaked down the center of the ice before burying a wrister in the top left shelf to give Colorado a 1-0 lead.

“It was a sleepy first period by the whole team, but the goal by Cale opened it up for us,” Rantanen said.

The shorthanded score came with 37 seconds left in the period and made more history for Makar, who on Saturday in Philadelphia became the second-fastest defenseman to reach 300 career points, one game short of tying Bobby Orr’s record. Makar’s goal on Wednesday gave him the most goals by a defenseman in franchise history at 76, passing Tyson Barrie.

“I’m very honored (by the mark),” Makar said. “It’s not really a goal I was too focused on, but you don’t get there unless I got guys like (MacKinnon and Rantanen) around me.”

It also marked Makar’s first regular-season shorthanded goal, and his four shorthanded points this year are the most by a Colorado defenseman since Craig Wolanin in 1995-96. The franchise record for a defender is five by the Nordiques’ Alexei Gusarov in 1992-93.

The Avs took further control less than three minutes into the second period, taking advantage of a power play and more poor defense by the Capitals. Rantanen’s cross-ice pass from the right faceoff circle over to the left one found MacKinnon, who had a clean look at the net and the all-star easily beat Washington goal Charlie Lindgren with a slap shot.

MacKinnon was just getting started.

A little over four minutes later, Colorado cashed in on another Washington penalty. Rantanen and Makar dumped the puck back and forth to each other before Makar zipped a clean pass to MacKinnon, who was set up at about the exact same spot as his first goal. The result was the same, a slap shot that beat Lindgren on the left side, and the Avs were in complete command at 3-0.

“That was a pretty similar goal (to the first one),” Rantanen said. “When you get those goals, and the confidence is high…  it just snowballs from there. We were moving the puck around and finding the open guy, and tonight it was Nate.”

But MacKinnon, amid his phenomenal season, wasn’t done as he tied the franchise record for goals in a period.

In a two-on-one break, Rantanen assisted MacKinnon, who slowed down right in front of the net and put home a backhanded goal to the top left shelf as Lindgren sprawled in vain on the ice. A flurry of hats rained onto the ice to commemorate MacKinnon’s eighth career hat trick, and second this season after tallying a Colorado-record four goals in the Avs’ win over Ottawa on Dec. 21. 

“(Rantanen) was playmaking so well tonight, and looking for me,” MacKinnon said. “On my third goal, that was a really nice pass on the two-on-one. It was really selfless hockey from Mikko.”

The Capitals finally got on the board almost halfway through the third period, when Dylan Strome scored off a loose puck in the front of the net, beating Alexandar Georgiev to negate the shutout.

But Rantanen responded for Colorado a few minutes later by knocking in a deflection in the front of the net, and then MacKinnon’s wrist shot through traffic in four-on-four action capped his seventh career five-point game. Washington scored a four-on-four goal a few minutes later, but it made no difference to the raucous home crowd.

And to his head coach, MacKinnon’s other-worldly effort left Jared Bednar at a loss for words again, while he simultaneously appreciated the forward’s lack of excitement for his individual achievements.

“He couldn’t surprise me at this point,” Bednar said. “That’s just where he’s at. He’s that good. Look at what he does at a nightly basis. What (more) am I going to say?

“And deep down, all the true competitors have (his mentality). It’s not about what he’s done tonight or what he did two years ago or last year, or this year to this point. It’s about trying to win again. His focus is on the end game (of another Stanley Cup).”