How the Winnipeg Jets have stopped Nathan MacKinnon in the playoffs

Heading into the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche’s first-round series, one of the key questions for the Jets to succeed was how to stop Nathan MacKinnon. The Avalanche superstar finished the regular season with 51 goals and 89 assists for 140 points, career highs in all categories, and will likely be a finalist for the Hart Trophy.

But through the first two games in this best-of-seven series, the Jets have been able to adapt to MacKinnon’s skill and speed, holding the Colorado forward to just a goal and two assists.

If the Jets want to come out of the first round with four wins, they’ll need to continue suffocating any offense MacKinnon can generate, with the brunt of the responsibility going to Winnipeg captain Adam Lowry, whose line with Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton has done a good job of neutralizing the Avalanche.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk are joined by former QMJHL head coach Jon Goyens to break down Games 1 and 2 of Jets-Avalanche, and how Winnipeg has been able to contain one of the game’s most elite players.

Tyler Yaremchuk: In Game 1, Adam Lowry did a fantastic job of clamping down on Nathan MacKinnon, but in Game 2, that changed a little bit. What was behind the Jets stifling MacKinnon?

Jon Goyens: This goes back to the preview we did before the series: you can only mitigate someone like MacKinnon. He’s got three points in this series, even though the Avalanche have scored 11 goals in this series. How? They keep pushing him out of the slot. On zone entries, it’s about forcing him to delay or hold pucks behind the net. The longer he holds it, the quicker Winnipeg can have five guys inside the dots.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…