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Nathan MacKinnon was a legitimate MVP candidate last spring but finished second to Taylor Hall of the New Jersey Devils in the voting.Had he gotten off to a faster start in 2017-18 Cam Atkinson Jersey Kids , the Colorado Avalanche center might have won the Hart Trophy over Hall.He won’t have to worry about a slow start to this season hurting his chances. After scoring just one goal in his first 10 games last year, MacKinnon has five goals in the first four games this year. He scored two in Colorado’s 6-1 win at Buffalo on Thursday night, and he hopes to keep the momentum going when the Avalanche host the Calgary Flames on Saturday night.Article continues below ...It took MacKinnon 15 games last year to get his fifth goal and he still finished with a career-high 39. After putting in a lot of work in the offseason, 39 goals looks like a low number or MacKinnon.“It’s always nice to get off to a good start,” he told reporters after Thursday’s win. “It takes some pressure off you, for sure. You get a few on the board quick and early. Last year wasn’t a great start for me, but I got going. Hopefully, I can continue this momentum for the whole season.”The Avalanche (3-1) hope their fast start overall can continue and prove the loss in Columbus was a blip. They responded with a big win over the Sabres www.kingsproshop.com , now they have one home game before heading back on the road for four more.Colorado, which assigned center Sheldon Dries to the AHL on Friday, is getting contributions from all four lines and the defense, which has translated into 17 goals in the first four games.Calgary (2-2) is coming of a 5-3 loss at St. Louis on Thursday night. The Flames took a 1-0 lead on a goal by free-agent signee James Neal but then the Blues scored three straight, including one 12 seconds after Neal.There was a scary moment when Calgary superstar Johnny Gaudreau took a big hit from St. Louis forward Alex Steen after Gaudreau grabbed Brayden Schenn. He came up wincing but said he was fine.“The slash was a little more than the hit, but I’m alright,” Gaudreau told sportsnet.ca after the game. “(Schenn) got me in the hand there. I kind of looked down and the guy stepped up and hit me.”Gaudreau is a lithe 165 pounds and one of the faster players in the league. He has taken a couple of hits this season, which is worrisome Womens Josh Anderson Jersey , but Gaudreau shrugged them off.“In Nashville the guy poked my skate out and I probably would have avoided the hit if I didn’t get my skate poked out, and tonight I looked down at my finger when I got slashed and didn’t see the guy step up on me,” he told sportsnet.ca. “Both probably would have been avoided if those two plays didn’t happen before the hit.”Colorado fans would rather have the dynamic Gaudreau on the ice, as long as the Avalanche win. With the way MacKinnon is playing they have a good chance, even with Gaudreau in the lineup. SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) Joe Thornton talked to several teams last summer when he made his first trip to the free-agent market before ultimately deciding to return to San Jose on a one-year deal.This time there was never any doubt.”Obviously there were some teams calling, but I told my agent/brother let’s keep it quiet this year, I want to go back to San Jose Adam Henrique Jersey ,” Thornton said Monday. ”Obviously talking to you guys at the end of the year that’s no secret. I feel this team is just getting better and better. … Our window is always open it seems in San Jose, and it’s a good feeling.”Thornton signed a one-year, $5 million contract on his 39th birthday, taking a $3 million pay cut from the previous year to help make sure the Sharks have the room to add other top players. Thornton had been willing to take even less had John Tavares decided to take San Jose’s offer instead of signing a $77 million, seven-year deal with Toronto on Sunday.But Thornton still believes strongly in the group that general manager Doug Wilson, coach Peter DeBoer and owner Hasso Plattner have put together and feels the pieces are in place for that elusive Stanley Cup run.”It would have been nice to get Johnny, but I think if you look at our team still, Doug and Hasso and Pete Womens Andrew Cogliano Jersey , they’ve allowed us to compete every year, and I think there’s no difference again this year,” Thornton said. ”We’re going to compete for a Cup. But yeah, I was going to be flexible and will always try to help out the franchise in that way.”The Sharks also locked up restricted free agent forward Tomas Hertl with a $22.5 million, four-year deal on Monday that buys out the first two years of unrestricted free agency.Hertl took on a bigger role last season after Thornton went down with a season-ending right knee injury Jan. 23. Thornton had torn the ACL and MCL in his left knee the previous season but said he’s ahead of where he was at this point last summer and expects to be 100 percent at the start of training camp.Thornton started slowly last season while recovering from knee surgery but was back near his top form by the end of November. He had 11 goals and 15 assists in his final 28 games before the injury.”I’ve never seen anybody train like this. You look at his birth certificate and it says a number there. But he’s childlike when it comes for his passion and love for the game,” Wilson said. ”He’s had so much time now and was so close to playing that I t6hink he’ll come back way ahead of where he was last year.”Thornton has been the face of the franchise in San Jose since arriving in 2005, helping the team reach three Western Conference finals and one trip the Stanley Cup Final in 2016.He ranks 12th in NHL history with 1,030 assists and is 16th with 1 Authentic David Pastrnak Jersey ,427 points. With seven more games, Thornton will become the 19th player to reach the 1,500-game mark for a career.The 24-year-old Hertl is just coming into his own after being slowed by knee injuries early in his career. He had a career-high 22 goals to go along with 44 assists this past season and was strong on both ends of the ice.Hertl was even better come playoff time with six goals and three assists in 10 games. He also won 57.7 percent of his faceoffs. The Sharks are counting on more of that kind of play in the future.”I just think his best hockey is ahead of him,” Wilson said. ”He truly wants to be a great player. Watching him in the playoffs this year, I think everybody saw him take that step that not only we expected but he expected of himself.”The Sharks still have one more restricted free agent to sign in forward Chris Tierney.—AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this story—