Best thing about Ottawa so far: Tim Hortons built inside my hotel! at on Thursday
— Mike Chambers (@MikeChambers)
OTTAWA — Superstar-in-the-making Nathan MacKinnon, the reigning Calder Trophy winner as NHL rookie of the year, played a season-low 13:20 Tuesday at Toronto and is still looking for his first goal of the season. He and Matt Duchene were the two forwards who took the opening faceoff in overtime against the Maple Leafs — and MacKinnon almost won it with a mid-air baseball swing that went high — but Great Nate is certainly off to a slow start. He entered Wednesday’s games ranking 180th in goals (zero), 194th in points (one), 519th in plus-minus (minus-3) and 88th in shots (eight).
MacKinnon is confident the scoring will come: “Four games in, I have 70-some games left. I’ll be OK. Obviously, not the best start offensively . . . but I feel like I’m playing decent.”
At even strength, MacKinnon is centering the third line with wingers Alex Tanguay and Daniel Briere. That line made the play of the game Monday in Boston, when Briere scored the game-winner with a half-second left in regulation, and MacKinnon logged 18:10.
MacKinnon played nearly five minutes less against the Maple Leafs (13:20) — primarily because the Avs spent more time on the penalty kill (9:06) than on the power play (5:06). MacKinnon is not currently on the PK, thus his ice time suffers when the Avs are penalty prone.
Meanwhile, please look for a story in Thursday’s paper and online about rookie forward Dennis Everberg, whom Avalanche coach Patrick Roy says “has a great future with us.” The 6-foot-4 Everberg continues to impress with his skating, physical play and stick skills. I was on Toronto radio after Tuesday’s game and the local guys wanted to know more about this kid, a real find as an undrafted free agent from Sweden.
Please check here Thursday for updates from the morning skate, including the scheduled starter in net (I’m thinking they’ll give it to Reto Berra). Avs take on the Ottawa Senators at 5:30 p.m. MT.
