The NHL on Monday handed Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog a four-game suspension for cross-checking Calgary's Matthew Tkachuk in the first period of Saturday's game at the Pepsi Center.
Landeskog, the Avalanche's top line left wing and third-leading scorer with 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) will miss the rest of the homestand with games against Winnipeg, New Jersey, Dallas and Buffalo. He will be eligible to return Dec. 7 against Tampa Bay, the first game of a four-game road trip.
Here's the NHL video and explanation:
Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog suspended four games for cross-checking Calgary’s Matthew Tkachuk. https://t.co/krr34oXIiy
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) November 27, 2017
This is Landeskog's third suspension, though he isn't considered a repeat offender under terms of the collective bargaining agreement. He was given a two-game suspension in November 2015 for an illegal check to the head of Boston's Brad Marchand, and a three-game suspension in March 2016 for cross-checking Anaheim's Simon Despres in the head.
Anticipating a suspension of some sort, coach Jared Bednar had Landeskog practice as an extra forward on the fourth line with Gabriel Bourque, Dominic Toninanto and Nail Yakupov.
Sven Andrighetto replaced Landeskog on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.
The NHL hadn't announced its decision by the time practice ended, and Landeskog said he would speak with the media Tuesday. He had a phone hearing, along with general manager Joe Sakic, with NHL Player Safety before practice.
"I think it could go either way, personally for me, looking at the video,… Bednar said before word came of the suspension. "We put Andrighetto on that line in case something happens. It wasn’t intentional, so sometimes you get a break on that.…
Andrighetto has been on the fourth line in recent games and was a healthy scratch Thursday against Dallas. He has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 21 games but has gone four games without a point.
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Goalie Semyon Varlamov is healthy after missing four games while ill and will start Wednesday against the Jets. Andrew Hammond, who was Jonathan Bernier's backup for four games. was returned to Belleville of the AHL.
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Forward Tyson Jost, the Avalanche's first-round pick (No. 10) in 2016, has been recalled from San Antonio and skated at left wing on an all-rookie line with center Alexander Kerfoot and right wing J.T. Compher. Jost had a goal and an assist in five games with the Rampage in a conditioning assignment.
"It was awesome for me. At the end there I started to get my game back and my confidence back," said Jost, who missed 10 games in a 12-game stretch because of lower-body injuries before he was assigned to the minor league team Nov. 16. "I was getting a lot of opportunities and a lot of shots on net, which was really good for me."
Turns out, Jost and his new linemates are roommates, along with defenseman Chris Bigras, in a Denver-area house, so now they need to find some on-ice chemistry.
“It’s awesome," Jost said. "We’re young, we’re fast, and we all think the game very well. It's fun to play with players like that. We all live together, too, so we’ve got a little bit of roomy chem going on."
All three players are natural centers, and all three played in college. Jost, 19, played one year at North Dakota, while Kerfoot, 23, spent four years at Harvard and Compher, 22, three years at Michigan.
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Injury updates: Forward Colin Wilson has a hip/groin injury and didn't practice. Defenseman Anton Lindholm continues to practice and might be available to play Wednesday. He's missed nine games after sustaining a broken jaw Nov. 4 against Philadelphia. Forward Vladislav Kamenev (broken arm) and defenseman Patrik Nemeth (lower body) are out indefinitely.