The hits just keep on coming.
Now Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews is injured and he could be out “long term,… coach Jared Bednar said Saturday morning.
Toews, who has five points (three goals, two assists) in eight games, sustained a foot injury blocking a shot Thursday against San Jose and didn’t make the trip to Minnesota for this weekend’s back-to-back set.
Here are the GAME NOTES.
“He’s not able to go,… Bednar said. “It could be a long-term absence. I don’t have all the details to that yet. He’s still back in Denver getting evaluated. We’re just not sure. We’ll know more in a couple days.
“Obviously, you lose a guy like Toews it’s going to shake things up in your back end. We know the minutes that guys like Cale (Makar) and (Samuel) Girard play, and Bo Byram has been playing a lot of minutes. Everyone’s going to get elevated and they’re going to move around a little bit.…
The Avalanche already were without fourth-line forwards and penalty killers Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (lower-body injury) and Matt Calvert (upper-body injury), and goalie Pavel Francouz (lower-body injury).
Girard will move up and take Toews’ spot with Makar on the top pair, Byram will skate with Erik Johnson, and Conor Timmins will be with Ryan Graves.
Logan O’Connor will play left wing on the fourth line as Tyson Jost moves to center. Kiefer Sherwood remains on the right.
Philipp Grubauer will start in goal. It seems all but certain that Hunter Miska will start Sunday.
The lineup:
FORWARDS: Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen Brandon Saad -- Nazem Kadri -- Andre Burakovsky Valeri Nichushkin -- J.T. Compher -- Joonas Donskoi Logan O’Connor -- Tyson Jost -- Kiefer Sherwood
DEFENSE: Samuel Girard -- Cale Makar Bowen Byram – Erik Johnson Ryan Graves – Conor Timmins
GOALIES: Philipp Grubauer Hunter Miska