Aarif Deen
Artturi Lehkonen left Monday’s 4-2 Avalanche victory over the Los Angeles Kings with an upper-body injury and did not return. The 30-year-old forward played just three shifts, totaling 3:21, before sustaining the injury at Crypto.com Arena.
Head coach Jared Bednar said after the game that Lehkonen will not be in the lineup in the second of a back-to-back in Anaheim on Tuesday. And that’s likely not the only one he’ll miss.
“I haven’t gotten the full report on him, but he’s going to be out and miss some time,” he told reporters in L.A.
Lehkonen was in a netfront battle with Joel Edmundson and looked to be in discomfort afterward. It’s hard to tell from the replay exactly what the issue was.
Without Lehkonen, Colorado leaned on Ross Colton and Victor Olofsson to fill in that last spot on the top six. Both wingers saw a bump in ice time and got looks with Valeri Nichushkin and Brock Nelson on the second line.
It was the top line that led the charge in this one. Martin Necas and Gabe Landeskog finished with a goal and two assists each, while Nathan MacKinnon pitched in with a goal and an assist. The top blueline pair also got in on the offense, as Devon Toews recorded the game-winner and Cale Makar added an assist. The only point that didn’t come from the starting five was a helper from Brent Burns.
The Avs got on the board first, taking advantage of a shorthanded Kings lineup that was missing eight of their regulars. Just 4:27 in, Necas sent a pass to MacKinnon, and he beat goalie Anton Forsberg five-hole to make it 1-0. At the midway point of the period, Landeskog scored on a one-timer setup by Burns to make it 2-0.
It felt like the kind of game where Colorado was going to run away with it. But that wasn’t the case. The Kings added one on the power play late in the first, and another at 8:32 of the second to tie things up.
Before the second tally, the Avs thought they had a goal from Necas, but a quick whistle from the official blew the play dead before the goal was scored. Necas picked up the loose puck in the crease, and the referee thought it was covered by the goalie. The play was not reviewable.
The Avs kept pressuring the Kings after the game was tied. It took more than 20 minutes of action to regain the lead, and it was on a spectacular play. MacKinnon received a pass from Makar at the top of the zone and skated around the Kings’ defenseman before sending a pass through several bodies to Toews for the goal with just 4:55 remaining.
Toews’ second of the year was the difference. The Avalanche added an empty-net power-play goal with just two seconds remaining.
Mackenzie Blackwood earned his 18th victory of the season for the Avs, making 19 saves to help Colorado sweep the season series against Los Angeles.
Good: Top Line Persistence
From the opening puck drop, you can tell that the top line had an extra jump in their step. This was by far MacKinnon’s best performance since the Olympic break. And probably his best in quite a few games before the break, too.
The Avs jumped out to that early 2-0 lead, and the top line was at the forefront of it. Even after L.A. clawed back, the top line still pressured every time they were on the ice. They were persistent and didn’t stop until they got the go-ahead goal. And for it to come from Toews, scoring just his second of the year, was a nice touch.
Kudos to MacKinnon, Necas, Landeskog, Makar, and Toews. They were all incredible in this one.
Bad: Lehkonen Injury
We can pick apart the quick whistle that took a goal away from the Avs, but it didn’t affect the result. The Avs still won, and they did it in regulation.
But losing Lehkonen puts a massive damper on an otherwise impressive game. Lehkonen has played in all 59 games to date and has 19 goals and 42 points. Unfortunately, he has never played more than 69 games in any year with the Avs. This injury might keep that streak alive.
The fact that it was hard to tell exactly what happened, and Bednar was quick to say he’s going to miss time, is troubling. The Avalanche need Lehkonen healthy for the playoffs first and foremost. But missing him for any bit of time is also going to hurt the lineup.