Postgame Wrap: Landeskog Suffers Upper-Body Injury in Avalanche’s Loss to Florida

The Avalanche’s 10-game winning streak came to an end at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday, but the 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers was secondary to more concerning news.

Team captain Gabe Landeskog, who spent more than three years working back from a knee injury, left the game after crashing hard into the Florida Panthers net in the second period. Landeskog needed help off the ice and did not return. The team later confirmed that it is an upper-body injury.

Another look at what happened to Landy in the second. pic.twitter.com/i4GnrvIDdg

— AltitudeTV (@AltitudeTV) January 5, 2026

Landeskog has not missed a game since returning in Game 3 of the playoffs last year. He’s appeared in all 41 games this season, scoring seven goals and adding 15 assists. Landeskog has been on the top line for several weeks, playing with Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas.

The Avs’ lone goal came from Artturi Lehkonen. Scott Wedgewood started on consecutive days, making 23 saves as Colorado outshot Florida 28-25 but fell to 1-1 on its three-game road trip. The finale is on Tuesday in Tampa Bay.

Colorado fell behind 1-0 when Sam Bennett scored just 6:27 in. Bust just over five minutes later, Lehkonen, while parked in front of goalie Daniil Tarasov, redirected a Josh Manson point shot to make it 1-1. Lehkonen’s 15th of the season extended his point streak to five games. Brock Nelson had the secondary assist, also extended his personal point streak to five games.

Following the Landeskog injury, the Avs got some opportunities and drew penalties, but could not threaten the Panthers penalty kill. Colorado finished the game 0-for-4 on the power play, including an unssucessful six minute of PP time in the second.

Jared Bednar’s club had a 12-5 shot advantage in the frame but gave up the lone goal. Following Florida’s third PK, Aaron Ekblad wired one past Wedgewood with traffic in front to make it 2-1 with just 1:48 remaining in the second.

The Avs had just five shots in the third, capped off with an incredible opportunity from MacKinnon in the dying seconds.

Bad: We Await a Landeskog Update

We already know that Landeskog’s injury, thankfully, has nothing to do with his knee. The right knee was the one that kept him out for three years, but it was not affected by the toe pick or the crash into the net.

The Avs confirming that it’s an upper-body injury also removes any possibilities that his left leg was the cause. But at this point, it’s still unclear how severe an upper-body injury it is.

Bednar said postgame that Landeskog is going to miss some time. That’s the extent of what we know as of now.

Good: Regrouping

Kudos to the Avs for regrouping after the Landeskog injury and chugging along. This was always going to be a hard game regardless, because of the back to back. But the odds just kept getting stacked against them.

Going into the road trip, we learned that Mackenzie Blackwood was unavailable. That increased the workload for Wedgewood. Then Devon Toews was unable to play in Florida, removing a big piece of the defense core. And then, of course, the unfortunate injury to Landeskog.

The Avs gave up the game winner after Landeskog’s injury, but they kept fighting and tried to get back in it. They deserve credit for fighting until the end. Even if it wasn’t necessarily easy.