The Colorado Avalanche have had a rocky start to the 2024-25 season. So far this season, Jared Bednar and the Avalanche have been plagued by injury, suspension and poor goaltending. They did pick up an impressive 6-3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night to snap a three-game losing streak and get back to 6-7-0 on the season.
Despite the victory, Tuesday night wasn't all sunshine and roses for the Avalanche. Star defenseman Cale Makar went down with an injury, and after briefly testing it out was unable to continue. Bednar didn't have much to say about the injury after the game, according to Corey Masisak of The Denver Post.
“Makar was injured during a power play midway through the second period. He did not play in the final 10:08 of the second period, then took one 29-second shift in the opening two minutes of the third period. He stayed on the bench through the first media timeout, then tested the injury again during the break before heading to the locker room,” Masisak wrote after the game. “Avs coach Jared Bednar did not have an update on Makar after the game, just that he ‘tweaked something' during the second period.”
The Avalanche cannot afford to lose Makar for any period of time in a time where Colorado is so vulnerable defensively considering their goalie situation. If they do, it will make it even more difficult for them to stop the bleeding on that end of the ice.
Artturi Lehkonen's return fuels Avalanche win over Kraken
While the Avalanche lost Cale Makar to an injury in this one, they did get one of their key pieces back in the lineup. Left wing Artturi Lehkonen made his season debut on Tuesday night after missing the first 12 games after having surgery on his shoulder over the summer.
Lehkonen wasted no time making an impact, as he finished the win over the Kraken with a goal and an assist in a two-point outing. His second period power play goal broke a 2-2 tie and put the Avalanche in front, and he assisted on an empty net goal by Mikko Rantanen to put the game out of reach late.
Nathan McKinnon was also creating scoring chances all over the ice, as usual, on Tuesday. MacKinnon finished with an astounding five assists in the win, and fueled an Avalanche offense that was on fire all night.
Lehkonen's return adds some of the depth that the Avalanche have desperately needed over the start of this season. They're still awaiting the returns of Jonathan Drouin and Valeri Nichushkin, but having Lehkonen in the lineup takes a little bit of pressure off of the top line to do all of the work on the offensive end.
If they can just tread water until some of those other pieces return, Bednar and company should still be in a good position to make a run at the playoffs. Having Lehkonen back makes that task much easier.
Follow Us
Subscribe
