Colorado Avalanche Superstar Nathan MacKinnon Lays Out Islanders' Romanov Leading To Massive Scuffle

Nathan MacKinnon has dominated the NHL since he arrived in 2013, becoming one of the league's elite and helping to guide the Colorado Avalanche to a Stanley Cup victory in 2021. Known for his incredible playmaking ability and lethal scoring prowess, MacKinnon has himself in MVP conversations every year.

While mainly known for being a goal scorer, MacKinnon is no stranger to throwing hits, or showing some intensity averaging over 50 hits throughout his career thus far. Well, he added another tally to his chart after absolutely leveling New York Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov Monday night:

Romanov's helmet flew off as he crashed into the boards in front of the Islanders bench, and they didn't take too kindly to that as a melee ensued after defenseman Scott Mayfield grabbed MacKinnon and everybody else decided to join in. The hit was as clean as can be, as MacKinnon didn't leave his feet and he went shoulder to shoulder with Romanov; he just happened to overpower the 6'1, 220-pound defenseman.

Already off to a hot start with four points in two games, MacKinnon will try and guide the Avalanche to a long postseason run this year, and with the likes of Mikko Rantanen, Jonathan Drouin, Miles Wood, and Cale Makar it looks like they have a very good chance. Although he's surrounded by an incredible amount of talent, MacKinnon has been in a league of his own since debuting in 2013, registering 336 goals and 567 assists in 793 games; winning the Calder Trophy in 2013-14, Lady Byng in 2019-20, and won the Hart Trophy as league MVP last season after an absurd 140 points (51G, 89A). In the prime of his career, there is no telling what level of dominance MacKinnon can reach next.

It's understandable to see why the Islanders would be so upset at MacKinnon for wiping out their defenseman: It's not too often the 140-point MVP starts throwing the body like prime Scott Stevens.