Pavel Francouz hurt again in Avs loss to Vegas

The Colorado Avalanche are holding their breath.

After missing the entirety of last season due to a hip injury, Avs No. 2 goaltender Pavel Francouz appeared to have tweaked his lower body again midway through Tuesday’s pre-season loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Francouz appeared to tweak his right knee or hip when he got his right leg caught in his net. Francouz looked to the rafters in obvious pain (see photo above), before falling to the ice. He tried to waive down a referee to stop play, with no success. Francouz was forced to slide over and make a save before freezing the puck and stopping play.

Francouz was able to get up under his own power and skate off the ice and into the locker room without any assistance.

“I don’t know the severity of the injury,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said after the game. “I can tell you it’s lower body.”

Bednar went on to say that this most recent injury is not related to the hip problems that kept him out last season.

“You kind of hold your breath there for a little bit,” Avs forward Nazem Kadri said. “We don’t know the diagnosis but we’re hoping for the best; we’re hoping it’s not serious. We hope he just needs a few days rest.”

Francouz had not played in an NHL game since Aug. 30, 2020 before making his pre-season debut last week in Vegas. The Avs No. 2 goaltender underwent two surgeries in Vail to repair first one hip, then the other.

The team has a scheduled day off on Wednesday. A medical update on Francouz likely won’t come until after practice Thursday.