Colorado Avalanche
Nikita Zadorov out indefinitely with possible broken jaw
More bad news from Avs medical room: Nikita Zadorov out indefinitely, Jared Bednar said just now.
He took that puck to the face last night and word I’m hearing is it’s a likely broken jaw. So, there’s another guy who will miss some time. Knowing how tough Big Z is, I would say to not rule him out too, too long. I mean, if it were up to him, he’d probably play tomorrow night against Columbus.
If he has to have his jaw wired shut, though, the doctors will probably mandate that he stays out a while for things to heal. But playing with a broken jaw is not unheard of in the NHL. The other Big Z in the NHL – Zdeno Chara – played with one in the Stanley Cup Finals last spring.
Of course, that was the Stanley Cup Finals. This is early November.
Bednar said he will still keep just the six D-men on hand for tomorrow’s game, but the team will make a call-up on D for the road trip afterward.
Hey, there was good news on Nathan MacKinnon, at least. He left the game early last night, but Bednar said he’s “fine” and expected to play tomorrow. He did not practice today, but it was an optional and lots of guys exercised the option to not take part.
I did see MIkko Rantanen in the building today. He seemed to be walking just fine. But he wasn’t on skates. That’s as much as I/we know about his situation.