Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog was scratched Friday in Game 7 against the Dallas Stars because of a skate-blade wound to his right leg. He became the sixth “unfit to play” Colorado player to go down in the series, and winger Matt Calvert didn’t play at all after contributing in all five first-round games against Arizona.
Defenseman Erik Johnson and goalie Philipp Grubauer were injured in Game 1 against Dallas, and both likely have long-term injuries. Winger Joonas Donskoi missed the last five games, goalie Pavel Francouz the last two, and defenseman Conor Timmins was hurt in Game 6 after joining the lineup in Game 5.
“I don’t like to sit here and blame injuries, but injuries never help,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said after Dallas’ 5-4 overtime victory that ended Colorado’s season. “You go through a series and you’re almost expecting through the playoffs that you’re going to lose a guy here and there but I guess as it turns out for us, we lost (so many).”
“It’s a lot to overcome,” he added.
Bednar declined to reveal the extent of his team’s injuries. Calvert practiced Thursday and may have been available if Colorado had advanced to the Western Conference finals.
It’s unclear whether Landeskog had structural damage to his leg.
“Some of those injuries are longer-term and I’m sure we can get into that a little in the next few days and explain all of them,” Bednar said. “I don’t know how long a guy like Landy would be out.”
The Avs’ depth was impressive, coming just a goal shy of winning the series. The best replacement part was forward Logan O’Connor, who stepped in admirably for Calvert on the fourth line and the penalty kill.
Third-string goalie Michael Hutchinson went 2-1 in the series.
“I was proud of the guys who stepped up and elevated their game,” Bednar said. “We scratched and clawed our way back in the series. I’m really proud of this team and their heart and the passion they played with.”
Special teams. Based on the power play and penalty kill, the Stars deserved to win the series. They went 9-of-23 on the power play (39%) and killed off 28 of Colorado’s 32 power plays (87.5%).
Dallas was 2-for-2 with the man-advantage in Game 7 and the Avs were 1-of-4.
“Just not dangerous enough in a lot of areas,” Bednar said of his power play. “We had games where we got real dangerous and did a nice job (but) couldn’t get some pucks to go. We start getting a little traction and we needed to get rewarded for some of the work.
“On the penalty kill side of it in this series, it just wasn’t good. Dallas was really good on the power play. They made it difficult on the net front and I guess the reality of it is, is we didn’t block enough shots, especially from the flanks and even from the top of their umbrella. Missing those blocks hurt.”
Footnotes. The Avalanche and Stars had 57 goals in the series, the third-most combined goals in a series that went seven games in NHL history. The record is 61 by the San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames in 1995. … Colorado is now 4-8 in Game 7s, losing its last five. The skid began in 2002 in the Western Conference finals against the Detroit Red Wings, who won Game 7 7-0. … Nazem Kadri scored his league-leading sixth power-play goal Friday, tying him with Joe Sakic for the most by an Avs player in a playoff year. Sakic had six in 1996. … Mikko Rantanen had an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games, tying Sakic (1996) for second all-time among Avs. Rantanen’s centerman, Nathan MacKinnon, broke Sakic’s record this year with points in his first 14 playoff games. … Andre Burakovsky had a goal — his fourth in six Game 7 appearances, the previous five with the Washington Capitals.
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September 05, 2020 at 09:18AM
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Avalanche season ends without Gabe Landeskog and six others - The Denver Post
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