Nathan MacKinnon was in clear pain during the second period. Ethan Miller / Getty ImagesMay 24, 2026 Updated 10:40 pm EDTDENVER — The Colorado Avalanche got back one of the best players in the world Sunday night in Cale Makar. But then they got a scare when they lost perhaps the best player in the world in Nathan MacKinnon for part of the game.MacKinnon, Colorado’s star center, limped to the locker room late in the second period of Game 3 of the Western Conference final after taking a shot from Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore to the right knee.He was not on the bench to start the third but returned to the bench 2:24 into the period, hopping in place and trying to get loose after a post-whistle scrum put the teams at four-on-four. MacKinnon took a 40-second shift but appeared to remain in discomfort, and then missed several third-period shifts before he returned to start a Colorado power play at the 9:54 mark of the period.MacKinnon initially crumpled to the ice in pain after blocking the shot, briefly getting to one knee and clearing the puck out of the defensive zone before falling back to the ice. He lay prone for approximately a minute before trudging off the ice under his own power, doubled over in pain. He stayed on the bench, though, and didn’t miss a shift. But his first shift back lasted only 32 seconds, and his second was just 16 seconds, as he was clearly laboring. When he got back to the bench the second time, he limped down the tunnel and didn’t return.MacKinnon, the 2024 Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player and a finalist again this season, has seven goals and eight assists in 12 playoff games this spring. He had a secondary assist on Gabriel Landeskog’s first-period goal as the Avalanche raced out to a 3-0 lead before Vegas rallied to tie the game in the second.