SAN JOSE – Jonathan Drouin became one of Nathan MacKinnon’s close friends and carpool buddy while they spent two years as teenagers tearing apart the QMJHL with the Halifax Mooseheads.
When Drouin signed a one-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche this offseason, expecting a reunion between the two seemed obvious. Avs coach Jared Bednar made it clear though at the start of training camp that a spot next to MacKinnon on the club’s top line must be earned, regardless of what highlight-reel goals those two created a decade ago.
Drouin earned his chance to play next to MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen in the team’s season-opening 5-2 win Wednesday night in Los Angeles with a strong, consistent camp. It was only one game, but that trio’s first data point of the season was outstanding.
“Playing with those two – they are very special,” Drouin said. “I’ve said it for a while now, but we saw it firsthand today. Look at that first goal Mikko scored. How many guys in the league can do that shot or make that play? It was fun to play with them. We had a great game and we just have to keep building on that.”
Rantanen had two goals and two assists, MacKinnon had a goal and two helpers and Drouin added an assist. The production was great, but there was much more to the performance.
Colorado outscored Los Angeles 3-1 when its top line was on the ice. Bednar will take that against anyone, let alone a club like the Kings that can be a frustrating opponent for highly skilled players.
Once considered the kings of the advanced statistics revolution because of how they were able to generate more far shot attempts than their opponents during a run of two titles in three years, the Kings have finished in the top six each of the past two seasons in Corsi For percentage (the fancy name for shot attempts).
Quantity doesn’t always begat quality, though. The Kings did produce more shot attempts Wednesday night, both overall and at 5-on-5. But not when the Avs’ top line was on the ice. And expected goals percentage — a better measure of the quality of chances — favored Colorado even more when that top trio was out there.
“I thought it was good,” Bednar said. “They came out skating right away and created a bunch. They got a little stubborn with the puck at times through the neutral zone, but they’re also able to make a bunch of nice plays and create a bunch of scoring chances, so they get a little more leeway in those areas than others.
“When the game moved into the third period, they were really disciplined with the puck. They put it in (the offensive zone) a lot, they forechecked it back a lot and they got rewarded for some hard work.”
Those three forwards are all fast, skilled skaters. But the puck moves faster, and three heady plays from Drouin highlighted the type of sky-is-the-limit potential they could possess together.
Drouin earned a secondary assist on MacKinnon’s goal because he pounced on a loose puck along the wall in the offensive zone and immediately slipped it to Rantanen below the goal line. If he collects it for a half-second, that play likely doesn’t unfold how it did with Rantanen making a world-class dish to a cutting MacKinnon for the goal.
The second play came late in the first period. Drouin reached a loose puck created by Rantanen’s forecheck. He and Kings center Pierre-Luc Dubois collided, but Drouin made a blind backhanded pass to MacKinnon in the slot for a pair of Grade-A chances.
The third was early in the second period. Drouin sped up the left wing in transition, but when the puck came to him, he fired a cross-rink pass under duress to a hard-charging Rantanen and the play unlocked all kinds of open space for the Avs to attack.
“I think I have the brain to play with those guys,” Drouin said. “I know what they want a little bit now. I know when they want the puck. I used to be that guy a little bit where I had those moments where I wanted the puck. I know (Rantanen) likes it there, so you give them the puck as much as you can and go find some open areas because you know they’ll find you too.”
On top of their speed and skill, Colorado’s top trio also showed off some power ahead of Rantanen’s second goal. MacKinnon won a race to ward off a potential icing in the left corner, and then fended off Los Angeles defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov with one arm while getting a cycle started.
Gavrikov’s partner Mikey Anderson had control of the puck, but Rantanen bullied him off it. That led to a quick pass back to the point and eventually a skillful deflection of a soft Jack Johnson long-range shot for a goal that provided some valuable breathing room.
It wasn’t a perfect night. Beyond a couple of so-so decisions in the second period, the one goal against was a weird one. Colorado thought there was an icing with 10.8 seconds left in the middle period, so Bednar sent his top line out. But the icing was waived off after the whistle and the draw moved to center ice.
MacKinnon and Drouin tried to create one more chance off the puck drop, but the aggressive play backfired and Kings ended up scoring with 4.6 seconds left.
“We were in a good spot at 3-1 and thatap probably the wrong decision,” Bednar said. “But itap one mistake and it shouldn’t define us.”
Want more Avalanche news? Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis.
