A true nightmare scenario is unfolding for the Colorado Avalanche. Down 3-0 in the Western Conference Final against the Vegas Golden Knights, Nathan MacKinnon’s status is uncertain. However, Jared Bednar’s statement might signal there’s no way MacKinnon is missing an elimination game in the 2025-26 NHL season.
“For him to be able to come back out and even help us on the power play and empty-net situations, if that’s all he can do, we’ll take it,” Bednar commented on MacKinnon after Game 3, via TSN. ”It’s better than anything else, in my opinion, we can put on the ice.”
Bednar’ comments on MacKinnon could signal the Avalanche star may be cleared to play in the NHL Western Conference Final. After all, if he was able to return in Game 3, the odds of him being back in Game 4—with some rest and treatment—should be quite positive.
The Avalanche will walk into T-Mobile Arena with their season on the line. The NHL’s Presidents’ Trophy winners seem dead to rights as the Golden Knights have them all figured out. If MacKinnon is indeed out for Game 4, it may as well be all she wrote for Colorado in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Jared Bednar of the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena.
What happened to MacKinnon?
MacKinnon has been playing through pain lately. During Game 3, the Avalanche’s star blocked a shot from Shea Theodore which hit him in his right knee. MacKinnon played a couple more shifts before heading down the tunnel.
As he returned from the locker room, he was sent onto the ice in man-advantage situations. Still, he looked far from 100%. As Bednar noted, the Avs know that even if he isn’t at full capacity MacKinnon can still produce and be impactful.
MacKinnon may want to play either way
In Game 4, in a true win-or-go-home situation, the medical team may have its concerns about playing MacKinnon, but the star might not give them a choice. “You might have to kill MacKinnon to get him off the ice,” Scott Wedgewood summed everything up after Game 3.
Colorado definitely hopes it doesn’t go that far and it can play its best player in the Avs’ biggest game of the season, yet. From here on out, every game will be the biggest of the year for the franchise in Mile High City. However, if MacKinnon isn’t cleared to play, the Avalanche will have to dig deep and find a way to get out of the Golden Knights’ chokehold.
