Colorado Avalanche star center Nathan MacKinnon suffered a hand injury after a round of fisticuffs with Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba on Sunday. There was significant concern from the organization that their superstar forward would be forced to miss an extended period of time as a result of the injury, but those worries have been washed away by head coach Jared Bednar. Per Elliotte Friedman, Bednar said via his radio hit that MacKinnon is expected to return to the lineup for Thursday's matchup with the San Jose Sharks.
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1509534080337072137
This is obviously a huge boost for the Avalanche, as they look to maintain their strong play heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
MacKinnon sustained the injury fighting Dumba after the Wild defenseman laid a huge hit in the head area of Aves star Mikko Rantanen. The result of said hit was a flurry of punches from MacKinnon connecting square in the face of the 27-year-old. Unfortunately in the process of sticking up for Rantanen, MacKinnon managed to bang up his hand pretty good. Fortunately, his absence will only have lasted one game, which the Avalanche won against the Calgary Flames.
On the year, MacKinnon has featured in 51 games, scoring 22 goals and providing 48 assists. One of the NHL's biggest superstars, getting the 26-year-old back on the ice will be a huge buff for the Aves as they look to protect their sizable lead atop the Central Division.
Heading into Thursday night's game, Colorado has 100 points on the season, having gone 47-14-6, racking up a +70 goal differential on the year, the second-best in the league, trailing only the Florida Panthers.
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