Nathan MacKinnon “ready to go” ahead of Avalanche’s two-game set at Vegas - The Denver Post

Two weeks after going down with a lower-body injury, Nathan MacKinnon is ready throw on an Avalanche sweater and get back to work.

So, too, are his teammates, all of whom saw their season grind to a halt when Colorado shut down its practice facilities earlier this month due to COVID-19.

The Avs now head to Vegas for the first of four games against the Golden Knights over the next eight days, with MacKinnon sounding like he’ll be on the ice for Sunday’s 5 p.m. puck drop.

“I’ll definitely be playing,” MacKinnon said on a media Zoom call after Saturday’s practice at Family Sports. “… I feel good, I feel ready to go.”

The Avs have held three practices since returning from an NHL-mandated quarantine that began Feb. 5, with MacKinnon participating in all three. Thanks to the brief pause in play, he could end up missing just one game since going down with an injury in a 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 31.

While the Avs’ points leader was forced to do rehabilitation away from team facilities, he said that didn’t deter him from doing the work needed to return to the ice.

“It was tough but I got a lot of exercises to do,” MacKinnon said. “I feel really, really good coming back. I feel like I haven’t had any rust or anything, so I’m excited to start, hopefully get into a rhythm here and hopefully start playing again.”

The challenge of staying in game shape was, of course, a team-wide issue in the wake of the shutdown. Several players were forced to resort to workouts at the home gym, including defenseman Ryan Graves, who said he used his condo building’s facilities to stay on top of his conditioning.

“It’s definitely weird to have that time off in the middle of the season. Pretty much all of us are just staying inside a lot right now and keeping our exposure to the least amount possible,” Graves said. “We went out on some walks and a couple of hikes and things like that, but for the most part just kind of laying low and basically just waiting to start up again.”

The wait is over starting Sunday.

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https://www.denverpost.com/2021/02/13/nathan-mackinnon-avalanche-return-vegas/

2021-02-13 21:38:00Z
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