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MacKinnon skates with team, but he won't play vs. Canadiens |
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Rick Sadowski
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It's been two weeks since Nathan MacKinnon sustained an upper-body injury and he took part in practice Tuesday while wearing a non-contact jersey.
He stayed on the ice for close to 30 minutes after practice to skate, stickhandle and (gingerly) shoot some pucks before finishing with sprints.
MacKinnon won't play Wednesday against Montreal at the Pepsi Center, but he's getting closer to returning, though coach Jared Bednar said little has changed.
“No update,” he said. “Same as before.”
Bednar did allow this much: "Yeah, he’s coming. He’s been skating the whole week without us and jumped in on some of the non-contact stuff today. That’s where he’s at.”
Asked if he might play later in the week, Bednar said: "I don’t know that."
After he was injured Jan. 30 in a collision with Vancouver's Alexander Edler, MacKinnon was expected to miss 2-4 weeks, so it's possible he could return as early as Friday in Winnipeg.
But he will need at least one full contact practice before playing. The Avalanche's next game after Friday is Sunday's home matinee against Edmonton.
“I think it’s good to see that he’s progressing," captain and linemate Gabriel Landeskog said. "You hope at this point that he’s progressing. It’s good to see he’s coming back, skating hard.
"I think for us, we’re not focusing, we’re not counting down the days, we’re not doing any of that. We’re focusing on trying to win hockey games and making sure we’re climbing in the standings.”
The Avalanche are only two points behind Minnesota for the second wild card playoff position in the Western Conference with 27 games remaining. Los Angeles and Anaheim are both one point behind the Wild; the Ducks have played two more games than the Wild, Avalanche and Kings.
The Avalanche have gone 3-3-0 in the six games MacKinnon has missed after earning a point with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Canucks in the game in which he was injured.
They are 3-5-1 in nine games after winning 10 in a row, a streak that ended with a 4-2 loss in Montreal on Jan. 23. Eight of the nine games since the streak were on the road, part of a 16-game stretch in which 13 will be played away from the Pepsi Center.
The Avalanche have been dominant at home at 19-7-1, but they're 11-14-3 on the road.
“We’re 3-3-1 with Mack out, I’d say that’s pretty good," Bednar said. "The problem is, it’s not good enough. We’re losing ground every day in the playoff race. When he went out, we were in the last wild card spot and now we’re chasing that."
Defenseman Mark Barberio and forwards Sven Andrighetto and Blake Comeau also remain out with injuries. Andrighetto has missed 17 games, Barberio eight and Comeau two.
“It takes more than .500 hockey to stay in this race right now, especially in our division, which is unfortunate, but that’s the facts," Bednar said. "So we’re going to have to find a way to win a few more games without these guys. If we’re just looking to survive, then we’re not going to keep pace. Within our room, we feel like we have enough to win, and guys need to step up."
Bednar said Semyon Varlamov will start in goal Wednesday.
The Avalanche later recalled defenseman Duncan Siemens from San Antonio and reassigned defenseman Andrei Mironov to the AHL team.
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