Colorado Avalanche centre Nathan MacKinnon of Halifax, Nova Scotia has been named the National Hockey League First Star of the Week for the week from December 11-17, 2023. In four games, MacKinnon had three goals and seven assists for 10 points.
MacKinnon was also a +1 with two penalty minutes, one game-winning goal, five power-play points, 12 shots on goal, five hits, two blocked shots, and 48 faceoff wins. MacKinnon’s game-winning goal came in Colorado’s first win of the week, a 6-5 Colorado win over the Calgary Flames on December 11. He broke a 5-5 tie from Valeri Nichushkin and Mikko Rantanen with four minutes and 30 seconds left in the third period.
In all four games this past week, MacKinnon had a multi-point game. He had one goal and one assist for two points against the Flames, two assists in a 5-1 Colorado win over the Buffalo Sabres on December 13, two assists in a 6-2 Colorado loss to the Winnipeg Jets on December 16, and two goals and two assists for four points in a 6-2 Avalanche win over the San Jose Sharks on December 17.
In 2023-24, MacKinnon leads the NHL in assists with 33. He also has 14 goals, 47 points, and is a +8 with 24 penalty minutes, 16 power-play points, two game-winning goals, 240 faceoff wins, 29 blocked shots, 22 hits, 15 takeaways, and 34 giveaways. The other game-winning goal came on October 21 in a 6-4 Colorado win over the Carolina Hurricanes. That came from Artturi Lehkonen and Nichushkin.
The Avalanche are currently tied for first place in the Central Division with the Dallas Stars. They each have 40 points.
