Nathan MacKinnon ejected on controversial play, Avalanche lose

Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon had never received a game misconduct in his NHL career.

Until Tuesday night.

MacKinnon was ejected late in the second period against the Edmonton Oilers, an eventual 4-3 Avalanche loss.

On the play in question MacKinnon went hard into Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram and was called for a five-minute major. But it was controversial because MacKinnon appeared to get shoved into Ingram by Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse.

Regardless, after a lengthy review the major penalty stood and MacKinnon was booted from the game.

MacKinnon was called for a goalie interference MAJOR and even made Ingram bleed 😳 pic.twitter.com/N6wNfRDOOA

— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) March 11, 2026

The TNT announcers eventually acknowledged what happened and thought Nathan MacKinnon should’ve only received a two-minute penalty. The refs disagreed and he couldn’t play the rest of the night.

Trailing 3-2 in the third period, Valeri Nichushkin tied the game to give Ball Arena a shot of energy. But Oilers star Connor McDavid scored a few minutes later and Edmonton held on for the 4-3 victory.

On a night that should’ve been about two great teams playing a fun game, it will instead be remembered for the head-scratching MacKinnon ejection.

The Avs are back at it on Thursday night in Seattle and you can bet Nathan MacKinnon and the rest of the squad will be fired up and ready to go.

(Update 11:42 p.m.) –

It’s safe to say Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar did not like the call against MacKinnon.

Bednar vehemently disagrees with the penalty on MacKinnon. He gave a lengthy explanation and also added:

"I really don't give a crap if the goalies hurt. That's on their D."

— Aarif Deen (@runwriteAarif) March 11, 2026

Jared Bednar does, uh, not agree with the MacKinnon call.

"He makes a play on the puck, and I got his toes cutting up ice probably through the top of the paint and Ingram's on the goal line. I don't think there's a chance -there's no chance he hits the goalie if Nurse doesn't… https://t.co/XMc9WQ7VK7

— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) March 11, 2026

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