Nathan MacKinnon returns for Avalanche showdown against Golden Knights in Las Vegas – The Denver Post

The Avalanche’s best forward returns Monday night for the club’s biggest game of the regular season.

Nathan MacKinnon, who has missed the past two games with a lower-body injury, is scheduled to return as Colorado’s top-line center against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.

The Avs, who have their sights on the West Division title and Presidents’ Trophy for the NHL’s best record, pulled out two 3-2 victories at Los Angeles without their leading scorer Friday and Saturday.

“Top player in the league back. That’s definitely going to benefit your team,” said Avs captain Gabe Landeskog, who is MacKinnon’s left winger. “I’m glad he’s feeling good enough to play. It’s important for us that he’s healthy.”

If the Avs win late Monday in regulation, then sweep the Los Angeles Kings in their final two games Wednesday and Thursday at Ball Arena, they will win the West and the Presidents’ Trophy.

Colorado (36-13-4) trails the Golden Knights (39-13-2) by four points, with a game in hand. Vegas concludes the season Wednesday at San Jose.

The Avs could begin the playoffs as early as Saturday. Game 1 will be at Ball Arena if they win the division or hold off third-place Minnesota (35-14-5) to finish second. Finishing second would set up a first-round series against the Wild, which is a point behind Colorado with remaining games Wednesday and Thursday at fourth-place St. Louis. The division champion will open against the Blues.

The Avs have limited capacity at Ball Arena (currently 22%, approximately 4,050 fans). Vegas has moved to 50% capacity (approximately 9,200 fans) at T-Mobile Arena and Minnesota will move to 25% (approximately 4,500 fans) at Xcel Energy Center to begin the postseason.

“That’s been the goal for us all year,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said of home-ice advantage. “It’s an important tool to have on your side come playoff time. We wouldn’t be in this position if we hadn’t taken care of business in the last few games (without MacKinnon). We’ve done a nice job of that.

“We’re still within striking distance and we control our own destiny as far as where we’re going to end up with seeding.”

Vegas, Colorado and Minnesota each have won at least 20 games at home, and none have reached 20 wins on the road. So, despite limited seating capacity, Bednar noted that there is a real advantage.

“The importance of it is our home record and how we’ve played at home and how our guys feel at home and the type of game that we play,” he said. “I think it’s been outstanding. That’s not exclusive to us. If you look at Vegas’ home record, what Minny has done at home. There are big swings in home and road (records). The reason that we want home ice more so than anything is because it was a goal that we set out for at the start of the season, to try to give ourselves every advantage, and whether that advantage is big or small we’d like to be able to take advantage of that any way we can.”

The Avs are 14-0-1 in their last 15 games at Ball Arena.

Vaccinated. Bednar said more than 85% of the Avs’ core players and staff have been vaccinated to be eligible for the NHL’s relaxed COVID restrictions during the playoffs for U.S.-based teams.

When the postseason begins, the team will be able to gather in social groups of up to eight people, indoors or outdoors, meet in hotel rooms and dine at restaurants with outdoor seating, among other freedoms.

Footnotes. Bednar said defenseman Sam Girard and forward Brandon Saad continue to skate in Denver and are candidates to return from lower-body injuries this week. Rookie defenseman Bo Byram (concussion) is also skating but his timetable is unclear. Forwards Matt Calvert (upper-body) and Logan O’Connor (lower-body) are “not in the foreseeable future for us to get back in the lineup,” Bednar said. … Forward Sampo Ranta was added to the Avs’ taxi squad from the Colorado Eagles. Ranta, 20, signed with the Avalanche after his junior year at the University of Minnesota on April 3. The Finn has six points (three goals) in 12 games with the Eagles.

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