
There are several different emotional states of Nathan MacKinnon when he’s on the ice, but they are all generally rooted in the same place. There is Stoic Nate, who produces something brilliant but reacts as if it were mundane. There is Frustrated Nate, which sometimes ends with a hockey stick or door at the team’s bench bearing the brunt of his outbursts. And there is Angry Nate, and more often than not, opposing teams do not appreciate. The starting point is a gifted professional athlete who is relentlessly chasing every advantage possible that will help him and his team succeed. It’s made him one of the most intense, most successful hockey players in NHL history. It is how he continues to stack career milestones. It was all on display Monday afternoon against the Washington Capitals. He had three points — two goals and an assist — and should have had four in a 5-2 win. The third was career point No. 1,100. “When you’re around him every day, you see the way he works and how professional he is and how dialed in he is in like every aspect of his career, it doesn’t shock me at all,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “When you just kind of sit back and look at the numbers and how consistent he’s able to produce and still play hard on the defensive side of the puck, there’s not much he’s lacking in his game, right? So when you take a bird’s eye view…
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