As if things couldn’t get any worse for the Colorado Avalanche, who fell into a 3-0 hole in the Western Conference finals with Sunday’s 5-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, they may now also be without star player Nathan MacKinnon.
MacKinnon, who led the NHL with 53 goals this regular season, sustained a right leg injury Sunday when he blocked a Shea Theodore one-timer off his right knee with just under eight minutes left in the second period.
He immediately fell to the ice and grabbed at his right leg after appearing to take the puck directly off the side of his right knee. While still down on the ice, he cleared the puck past the blue line, but was unable to get up, forcing referees to stop the play so he could be attended to.
He limped off the ice under his own power and attempted to play through it, returning for two more shifts before eventually limping back to the locker room late in the second period.
MacKinnon played just one full-strength shift during the third period, although he also was able to contribute on a power play and a 6-on-5 when the Avalanche pulled their goalie in the closing minutes.
“You might have to kill him to get him off the ice,” Colorado goalie Scott Wedgewood said postgame. “Just kind of the person he is, the competitor he is. He obviously proves that every time he’s on the ice. He wants to win more than anybody. Just another example.”
Colorado coach Jared Bednar did not have an update in his postgame press conference on MacKinnon’s status entering Tuesday’s Game 4, where the Avalanche will face elimination.
MacKinnon, 30, has tallied a point in nine of Colorado’s 12 games in these playoffs, including a first-period assist Sunday, totaling 15 postseason points (seven goals, eight assists).
His injury came in the same game that the Avalanche got star defenseman Cale Makar back after he missed the first two games of this series with an upper-body injury.
