AVALANCHE

Nathan MacKinnon nabs NHL’s top star again for another big month

Feb 1, 2024, 11:24 AM

The Colorado Avalanche have arrived at the break in a good place—atop their division while their star player paces the West in points.

Nathan MacKinnon may be months away from finally earning his first Hart Trophy awarded the NHL’s MVP, and he’s closer thanks to his work in January. The league named MacKinnon its first star for the second straight month. Nate is the second player in as many seasons to earn a first star in consecutive months, following Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid in February and March 2023, the man who won last year’s MVP.

Like in December, MacKinnon had a four-goal game on January 24 against Washington. That highlighted a month where MacKinnon led the NHL with 12 goals, five of which were game-winners, and 14 assists. Over the Avs 12 games in the month, they went 9-3, thanks in large part to MacKinnon’s league-leading production where he found the scoresheet in each game.

The 28-year-old MacKinnon will be making his fifth career NHL All-Star Game appearance this weekend.

Stuart Skinner of Edmonton and Elias Pettersson of Vancouver were the second and third stars for this past month.

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