Joonas Donskoi took part in contact drills Sunday for the first time since he sustained a concussion Jan. 7, but he won’t play Monday when the Avalanche face Detroit at the Pepsi Center to close out the five-game homestand.

The Avalanche won’t play again until Feb. 1 in Philadelphia because of the NHL All-Star break and bye week that follow Monday's game, and coach Jared Bednar wants Donskoi to use the extra time to rest and recover.

There won’t be a morning skate Monday because of the 1 p.m. MT start. The next practice isn’t until Thursday, Jan. 30.

My NHL.com recap of Saturday’s 5-3 WIN AGAINST ST. LOUIS.

"Going into a 10-day break, coming off this type of injury, I just think it's better to have him rest and make sure he is 100 percent coming out of the break,” Bednar said. “It's the smart move, I think."

Donskoi, who will miss his fifth game, was injured on a hit by the New York Rangers’ Ryan Lindgren. Lindgren had a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety, but he wasn’t suspended or fined.

“I was surprised,” Donskoi said. “Everybody saw the hit and there’s different opinions, but it’s tough because I can’t tell you if I saw him, but the contact was to the head in my opinion, that’s for sure.

“The good thing is I have been making some progress. Today was my first day with a normal jersey on, and I was able to take some contact and stuff, so it is getting better."

Donskoi has 29 points (14 goals, 15 assists) in 44 games and has matched the career high for goals he had with the San Jose Sharks in each of the past two seasons.

"One thing that we have to really consider today (is to) make sure that I am 100 percent when I get back,” he said. “I am making progress. I am feeling a lot better, so it's not too far to get back on the ice again.”

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (maintenance day) didn’t practice.

The Avalanche reunited the first power-play unit from the start of the season with Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Nazem Kadri, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar. The second unit includes Andre Burakovsky, J.T. Compher, Tyson Jost, Valeri Nichushkin and Samuel Girard.

The Avalanche have won two games in a row and have gone 2-0-2 in the first four games of the five-game homestand.

Bednar wouldn’t say if Philipp Grubauer or Pavel Francouz will start in goal. Grubauer has started the past three games and stopped 75 of 81 shots (.926 save percentage). He had 21 saves Saturday against the Blues.



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