Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar met with media on Monday in Las Vegas.
And unfortunately he didn’t have any news to share on the health of superstar Nathan MacKinnon or forward Valeri Nichushkin.
MacKinnon took a puck to the knee midway through the second period in a stunning Game 3 loss on Sunday night. The Avalanche were up 3-0 but collapsed, losing 5-3 and now down 3-0 in the Western Conference Final.
MacKinnon went down the tunnel before returning during the third period but only taking four shifts the rest of the game. He certainly didn’t look like himself and was in obvious pain. The loss stung for Colorado, but the fear about MacKinnon made it even worse.
“Yeah, I don’t have any updates. Like those guys are getting treatment they’re getting evaluated. Like it could be tomorrow morning before we know it could be game time before we know,” Jared Bednar said. “We’ll just plan for all scenarios and then go from there.”
Nichushkin only played 8:34 before leaving with what Jared Bednar called a lower-body injury. His absence wasn’t discussed on the ESPN broadcast of Game 3 as the focus was on MacKinnon and the crazy comeback by the Golden Knights.
The only piece of good news for the Avalanche was the return of Cale Makar as he deals with apparent hip and shoulder injuries. The Norris Trophy finalist played 27:14 and had three shots on goal to go along with six blocked shots.
Obviously, the Avalanche have a massive hill to climb, needing to win four straight games to save their season. Hopefully, MacKinnon and Nichushkin are available for Game 4, but that feels firmly up in the air.
Only six days ago Colorado was the Stanley Cup favorite and Denver felt like a parade was inevitable. Now, they’re beat up and need a miracle.
Things can change quickly, and we’ll have to see how Jared Bednar guides the Avs as their backs are firmly against the wall.
