Nathan MacKinnon shares how Canada’s star-studded power play can find chemistry at 4 Nations Face-Off
Canada‘s top power-play unit might go down as one of the most talented five-man units to ever lace up the skates. Regardless, Nathan MacKinnon knows failing to prepare, is preparing to fail.
MacKinnon is a big part of the lethal Canadian top power-play unit, and is joined by his Avs’ teammate Cale Makar, along with Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, and Sam Reinhart. MacKinnon spoke during media day on Tuesday, and caught up with Daily Faceoff’s Tyler Yaremchuk, opening up about the strategy involved when there’s that much talent on the ice during a man advantage.
Yaremchuk: What have your power-play conversations been like for yourself and the other four guys? What kinds of things are you talking about when you’re going through those practices?
MacKinnon: Yeah, I think, you know, we did something with Sid and you made a good point, it’s just you’re trying to communicate as much as possible. Just to really get a feel for what guy’s like to do, and then when it’s game time we’re just playing.
So, the talking’s over, trying to just build as much chemistry as possible, and I think when you do speak a lot to each other, and try to really break things down, there’s less guessing out there. You have a plan, but at the end of the day it’s not a complicated thing. We’re going to try and be aggressive, have Cale shoot a ton of pucks, and get it back and make some plays.
Yaremchuk: Since you bring up shooting of the pucks, is there any thought of, like okay, don’t overpass the puck? Just because there’s all this talent on the ice.
MacKinnon: Yeah, I think that was a message as well. Every guy needs to do what they want to do, and the other four read and react off of what the puck carrier does, or whatever it may be. You know, I think being really aggressive, not deferring is a key. I think trying to be too nice, or whatever, is not a good recipe.
While Canada’s top power-play unit is absolutely stacked, their second group is as well, with Mitch Marner joined by Mark Stone, Brayden Point, Travis Konecny and Shea Theodore. Canada hopes lots of chemistry is on display, as they kick off the tournament Wednesday night against Sweden .
For the full clip of MacKinnon’s power-play break down, watch below:
Nathan MacKinnon spoke to Tyler Yaremchuk about Team Canada's powerplay plans and building chemistry between players
4 Nations Face-Off | @tyleryaremchuk pic.twitter.com/5q6SBVuoT2