Big Meets Bigger: MacKinnon's task against Preds' defense nothing short of monumental

In order for the Colorado Avalanche to have any sort of chance against the Nashville Predators in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Nathan MacKinnon will have to be even better than he was in the regular season.

That's no small task considering MacKinnon finished fifth in NHL scoring with 39 goals and 58 assists in 74 games, and his 1.31 point per game average trailed Connor McDavid's mark of 1.32 by the smallest of margins.

Only a fraction of that production came against the Predators, however, as Colorado dropped all four meetings against Nashville while MacKinnon was held largely in check:

• Oct. 17 - Avs lost 4-1: 1 goal, 1 shot
• Nov. 18 - Avs lost 5-2: 0 points, 1 shot
• March 4 - Avs lost 4-3 (OT): 1 assist, 8 shots
• March 16 - Avs lost 4-2: 1 goal, 6 shots

As Colorado's top offensive player, MacKinnon - along with linemates Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog - will continue to see a lot of Nashville's formidable top-four defensemen in Roman Josi, P.K. Subban, Mattias Ekholm, and Ryan Ellis, all of whom were on the ice for more shot attempts for than against this season.

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

What's important to note is Ellis was present in the lineup for only two of Nashville's games against Colorado. He returned from offseason knee surgery in early January, and from that point on, the Predators went 30-8-6 - the league's top record over that span.

MacKinnon was able to fire 14 shots in the two aforementioned meetings, but a fully healthy Ellis should make things more difficult for the Avalanche star, as Predators head coach Peter Laviollette notes.

"(Ellis) brings an awful lot of stability to the back end," Laviolette said on the Predators' website. "You talk about a defenseman that can contribute in all different areas, his specialty teams both ways, he takes down 23, 24, 25 minutes, can go against another team's best players, defensively strong, offensively strong and he's an excellent leader in the room.

"I think when you add a piece like that, which brings so many dimensions to the team, your team is going to get stronger from that."

This is not what a team that clinched the West's final playoff spot wants to hear, especially from a team that won the conference last season.

But it's not as if MacKinnon didn't produce against other top teams this year:

• vs. Jets: 2 games, 2 goals, 2 assists
• vs. Lightning: 2 games, 2 goals, 2 assists
• vs. Bruins: 2 games, three assists
• vs. Wild: 4 games, 4 goals, 5 assists

That's pretty decent production against teams with serious Cup aspirations, but the Predators enter the postseason as the favorites for a reason, and it begins with the depth on defense.

MacKinnon will have to make use of his blazing speed, fire away on the power play, and take advantage of any rare miscues, but, evidently, it will be an uphill climb over the next four-to-seven games.