Public enemy number one comes back to haunt Calgary Flames

A nightmare that never seems to fade came back with vengeance in last night’s 3-0 defeat to the Avs, as Nathan MacKinnon once again had his way with the Calgary Flames.

A story that is becoming as old as time, one that makes for grotesque reading. A laggard version of the Flames were unable to shake off their visible fatigue in Colorado last night. And public enemy No. 1 took full advantage of Calgary’s heavy legs.

MacKinnon scored the first two goals of the game in a closely contested affair. It was his 19th and 20th of the season, with the Avs superstar picking up momentum at the right time of the season. He has scored 12 goals in his last 13 games after only netting nine in his first 32 games.

The Avs ascended to first place overall without one of their most highly prized assets firing on all cylinders, a foreboding prospect for all NHL teams. But now the 26-year-old is officially back at his best, a fact reinforced by last night’s performance.

If Calgary is to make a deep playoff run, they’ll need to find a way to at least slow the runaway locomotive. The Avs centre has 18 points in his last 15 games vs Calgary and was one of the primary reasons the Flames were upset by Colorado in the first round of the 2019 playoffs.

In that five-game series, Mackinnon scored three goals and added five helpers, almost single-handedly eliminating the favoured Flames. In the aftermath of that series, some Flames players made a point to express just how unstoppable Mackinnon was, saying he was a “beast” who “took over the series.”

With Colorado visiting the Flames at the end of the month, Darryl Sutter has just over two weeks to conjure up a plan to derail the Avs’ terrier. Hopefully he comes up with an effective formula, as the Flames need to have Mackinnon figured before they prospectively square off in what would be an epic playoff battle.