Nate Dogg: Best in Show at MSG

MacKinnon Magic gets Avs OT win vs. Rags

Full disclosure: I have always hated, and will always hate, the New York Rangers. I hate everything about them. The jerseys. The arena. The fans. The unearned mystique. All of it. If you are looking for journalistic integrity in the following paragraphs: stop now… it ain’t here today.

It’s not often we see the kind of raw emotion from Nathan MacKinnon that we saw Saturday afternoon in Manhattan. In an arena best known for hosting the world’s most famous dog show, it was the top dog of the NHL who made Madison Square Garden his stage.

And while the dogs at the Westminster Dog Show are calm, subdued, and carefully directed into proper behavior to come out winners, Colorado’s The Dogg chose the opposite path to victory.

He embarrassed the host Rangers with a pair of jaw-dropping goals, one in the third period and then the overtime game-winner that will be replayed and reshared millions of times over the next 24 hours. After each, he barked. A no-no in the show-dog world, and a rare departure for MacKinnon in this world.

The NHL’s leader in both goals and points wanted this game. He wanted the two points in the standings. And in overtime, he wanted his second point of the night all for himself.

Avalanche 3.
The team with one Stanley Cup since the invention of television, 2.