Nathan MacKinnon will miss his third straight game Monday when the Avalanche meet the Arizona Coyotes at Ball Arena, but he took part in the morning skate while wearing a non-contact jersey and might be able to play Wednesday in the second game of the two-game set.
MacKinnon hasn’t played since March 3 when he sustained a head injury on a hit by San Jose Sharks forward Joachim Blichfeld.
Here are the GAME NOTES.
MacKinnon is doing great, but he’s not an option for us tonight just because of the protocol,… coach Jared Bednar said. “I think it’s a possibility he could play our next game, but he’s not going to be an option for us tonight.
“Just from knowing MacK from the last few years when he gets to this point, he’s champing at the bit and ready to go and probably would love to play tonight. He’s just not able to; he won’t get medically cleared to play tonight’s game.…
Defensemen Cale Makar will miss his sixth game and Bowen Byram his fifth with upper-body injuries. Defenseman Conor Timmins also has an upper-body injury and won’t play.
Makar skated on his own Monday after he spent …a significant amount of time" on the ice Sunday, Bednar said, adding that Byram’s "been going on the ice some days, other days not ... he seems to be progressing and feeling better."
Center J.T. Compher (upper body) will miss his second straight game. Defenseman Dennis Gilbert, who was on the COVID-19 list and recovering from facial surgery, did some skating Monday.
Forward Matt Calvert will play after missing six games with an upper-body injury he said was not related to the concussion issues that caused him to miss seven games earlier.
“Obviously, you want to be in with your teammates every night possible, but it's kind of been next-man-up lately,… Calvert said. “We've had a lot of injuries recently and guys are doing great, filling different roles. I'm excited to be back and do what I can to help this team.…
Mikko Rantanen will center the top line with Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin, as he did in the latter part of Saturday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
Defenseman Greg Pateryn was recalled from the taxi squad and will replace Timmins.
The lineup:
FORWARDS Gabriel Landeskog -- Mikko Rantanen -- Valeri Nichushkin Brandon Saad -- Nazem Kadri -- Andre Burakovsky Tyson Jost -- Jayson Megna -- Joonas Donskoi Matt Calvert -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Logan O’Connor
DEFENSE Dan Renouf -- Devon Toews Jacob MacDonald -- Samuel Girard Ryan Graves – Greg Pateryn
GOALIES Philipp Grubauer Hunter Miska