Avalanche's worst nightmare unfolds as MacKinnon exits in serious pain
Nathan MacKinnon went to the tunnel under his own power, but barely.
The Avalanche superstar blocked a shot, stayed down on the ice in visible pain, and eventually limped off the bench down the tunnel during Sunday's matchup with Vegas.
The play was blown dead. The building went quiet. Avs fans held their breath.
MacKinnon is the engine of this team. There is no plan B with that level of production sitting in the press box.
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The 30-year-old just wrapped a 127-point regular season. 53 goals, 74 assists, plus-57 across 80 games on a $12.6 million cap hit.
He's been just as good this postseason. 14 points across 11 playoff games for Colorado, with 7 goals and 7 helpers.
How big a domino does Jared Bednar lose if MacKinnon can't go?
The Avs finished first overall at 55-16-11 with 121 points. The roster is deep. The roster also isn't built to absorb the loss of the best player on the planet not named Connor McDavid.
Martin Necas would shift into a heavier role. The 100-point Czech forward has chipped in 11 playoff points already. The trickle-down everywhere else is the problem.
Cale Makar is already managing a day-to-day tag. Now add MacKinnon limping off in the same series? The injury luck gets worse before it gets better.
Vegas has been the hottest team in the West behind 10 playoff goals from Pavel Dorofeyev and 18 points from Jack Eichel. They don't need help. They just got some.
How does John Tortorella handle the matchup adjustments now? Does the Knights bench play it like nothing changed, or does the gameplan shift to lean on the void?
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GM Chris MacFarland's group has been built around MacKinnon's prime window for years. Losing even one game from him in a tight series gives Colorado real problems.
The official update is the next thing everyone waits on. Avs fans want a precautionary tag. They'll settle for anything that isn't a multi-game timeline.
Game film will get re-watched. The trainer's room will get busy. The series might already have changed shape.
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MAY 24, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| William Karlsson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mark Stone | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Kaedan Korczak | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Devon Toews | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jack Drury | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nazem Kadri | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Keegan Kolesar | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Landeskog | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Dylan Coghlan | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Parker Kelly | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nathan MacKinnon | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Manson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Martin Necas | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Shea Theodore | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| Brent Burns | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||