Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche suffered their first regulation loss of the season, after a 3-2 defeat to the Boston Bruins. After the final buzzer sounded, tempers flared and a scrap broke out in which MacKinnon was trading blows with Bruins' Charlie McAvoy.
NHL fans on X were elated to watching the rare glimpse of a superstar, like Nathan MacKinnon, drops his gloves and go all out in an end-of-game scrap. While fans' opinions on were divided on who who won the fight, the Avalanche star had battle scars on his face, as visible during his post-game media scrum.
"Matthews and McDavid would never", tweeted @kathrynmariah.
"MacKinnon got pooper while McAvoy had someone trying to hold him"
"MacCryBaby at it again"
"MacKinnon should be suspended for starting a fights with less than 2 minutes left in the game"
"McAvoy got rocked holy"
After the loss, Nathan MacKinnon spoke to the media and was appreciative of the 33 shots-on-goal his team posted (the Bruins had 19), but lamented on the missed scoring opportunities.
"I thought we played well, just unfortunate that we couldn't put it away early. Lot of looks, lot of chances, we're dominating but (we) just let them back in the game," said MacKinnon.
The Avalanche superstar gave Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman his flowers for making 31 saves.
"I thought we really outplayed them, honestly. Swyaman had a night."
Superstars like Nathan MacKinnon do not drop the gloves as frequently as modern-day enforcers like Brady Tkachuk, Ryan Reaves, Tom Wilson, etc. According to HockeyFights.com, the 30-year-old centre has dropped the gloves in the NHL eight (8) times, before last night's scrap with Charlie McAvoy.
Nathan MacKinnon's first NHL fight, as registered on HockeyFights.com, was in 2015, against Jonathan Ericsson. His other scrappers include Trevor Lewis, Brayden McNabb, Josh Archibald, Jordan Martinook, Kevin Labanc, Dysin Mayo and most recently Matt Dumba (in 2022).
Before being drafted by the Avalanche in 2013, MacKinnon registered two fights in the QMHJL, when he played for the Halifax Mooseheads, against Sean Girard, & Adam Chapman in 2012.