After season of injury adversity, Avalanche is healthier team in showdown with Stars
For largest part of the - season the Colorado Avalanche played at a disadvantage because of injuries to key players Now as Championship of the Stanley Cup Playoffs beckons the Avalanche is the healthier company in its opening-round matchup Everyone including captain Gabe Landeskog and five players who missed the end of the regular season practiced Friday with the club Avs coach Jared Bednar has not revealed whether Landeskog will be in the lineup Saturday night but did say he thinks everyone else will be available I think our whole squad is going to be healthy Bednar announced We ve got a inadequate guys dinged up but I think they re going to be able to play I think we re in a good spot to start the playoffs The same cannot be explained for the Dallas Stars When they face the Avs in Championship on Saturday night at American Airlines Center the Stars will not have star defenseman Miro Heiskanen or leading goal scorer Jason Robertson Heiskanen one of the top five defensemen in the league when healthy hasn t played since Jan He skated before Dallas practice Friday and could play at chosen point in this series Robertson played in all games for the Stars finishing with goals and points but he was injured in the season finale and Dallas coach Peter DeBoer labeled him week-to-week on the eve of the series Next man up It s this time of year DeBoer described reporters Friday in Dallas We re not going to be the only gang either starting without somebody or losing somebody at various point That s playoffs The Avs didn t face a group more shorthanded by availability issues this season until Jan a - win in Minnesota Colorado players missed games because of injury which was third in the league behind San Jose s and Toronto s according to NHL Injury Viz That includes Landeskog who missed all games but does not include the missed by Valeri Nichushkin at the start of the year because of his suspension Remove Landeskog but add Nichushkin s suspension and Colorado was still third in games lost during the season behind the New York Islanders and Columbus Blue Jackets Related Articles Avalanche s new reality is here with playoff star Mikko Rantanen playing for the other guys How unprecedented roster turnover reshaped Avalanche for another Stanley Cup run Renck Is Avalanche goalie Mackenzie Blackwood ready to meet playoff moment Stanley Cup run hinges on it Colorado Avalanche vs Dallas Stars Series predictions who has the edge and five things to watch in Stanley Cup Playoffs Avalanche vs Stars schedule Event times TV info for NHL playoff series Including Nichushkin s suspension he and Jonathan Drouin each missed games while Miles Wood missed Josh Manson missed and Ross Colton missed Drouin Colton Manson Ryan Lindgren and Nathan MacKinnon all missed the end of the regular season with varying degrees of injuries MacKinnon Drouin and Colton will all be available Saturday Manson and Lindgren are expected to be as well The biggest uncertainty is Landeskog who played two games in Loveland with the Colorado Eagles this past weekend and skated with the Avalanche during practices on Tuesday Wednesday and Friday The Colorado captain hasn t appeared in an NHL competition since June the night the Avs won the Stanley Cup against Tampa Bay If he does play Landeskog would become the first member to have knee cartilage replacement surgery which he had in May and return to NHL action He s close He s getting close Bednar declared Every day I think he s getting a little quicker a little bit more confident a little more sure of himself He ll be an option for us in this series Want more Avalanche news Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis
