Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said that while eyes will be drawn to the elite speed and skill of McDavid and MacKinnon on Saturday, his focus will be on trying to limit the Colorado captain's impact as much as he can with the mechanisms he has at his disposal.
“As a fan, it's exciting seeing two of the best players go head-to-head with MacKinnon, leading the NHL and scoring, and you've got McDavid, who's been in that position many times,” he said. “But as a coach, the first priority is looking at it from that aspect. We have to think about ways to limit his opportunities, whether that's matchups or a system thing.
"But if we're going to have success, we need to limit the amount of opportunities he has and we're not going to shut him down completely. He's going to get chances just because he is a really good hockey player and he'll be able to do that. But as a team, collectively, we have to make sure that we're playing well defensively when he's on the ice.”
MacKinnon is one of the handful of players you have to factor in an individual game plan for – including Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen, Devon Toews, and not to mention goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, whose 34 victories tied with Vancouver's Thatcher Demko for the most wins in the NHL.
Together, the Avalanche are an elite team with championship pedigree, having lifted the Stanley Cup in 2022 in part by defeating the Oilers in four games during the Western Conference Final.
"Powerful team, a lot of offence, a lot of skilled players and a lot of guys who can skate play a very fast game; not only individuals, but as a team collectively," Nurse said. "And for us to have success, we're going to have to skate. We're going to have to be playing fast and playing with that same tempo as they usually do."