Nathan MacKinnon gives good update on his controversial penalty

Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon had a controversial major penalty called against him on Tuesday night.

Now, it sounds like the NHL is admitting its mistake.

MacKinnon was ejected against the Edmonton Oilers, receiving a five-minute major and game misconduct for a play late in the second period.

The Hart Trophy favorite went crashing into Oiler goaltender Connor Ingram, but a closer look revealed MacKinnon was actually thrust into Ingram by Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse.

A lengthy review during the game didn’t change things, but the league is making it right. MacKinnon shared the good news with The Denver Post‘s Corey Masisak after morning skate in Seattle on Thursday.

#Avs Nathan MacKinnon said the NHL rescinded his major penalty.

If you get two in a certain amount of games, it’s an automatic suspension. So he’s back to zero for those purposes.

— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22) March 12, 2026

Thankfully, the NHL combed through this further and ultimately made the right decision.

Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar strongly defended Nathan MacKinnon postgame and it appears he was onto something. MacKinnon had the trajectory of his skates changed by Nurse, causing the collision with Ingram.

With Colorado in a battle to secure the Central Division over Dallas the last thing they needed was a fluky MacKinnon suspension should he get another major penalty.

That isn’t going to happen — and the good name of Nathan MacKinnon has been cleared.

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