The Avalanche will be without defenseman
Nikita Zadorov for a while. He had surgery Friday night for a broken jaw and is out week-to-week, coach
Jared Bednar said Saturday after the morning skate.
So
Ian Cole will return to the lineup against Columbus at the Pepsi Center.
GAME NOTES
Zadorov was injured early in the second period Thursday when he was hit with a puck shot by Nashville forward
Ryan Johansen in the Avalanche’s 9-4 win.
"Everything went well, so we will just see how things go over the next couple days and then we will try to get him back on the ice,” Bednar said.
Nathan MacKinnon didn’t skate in the morning, but Bednar said he would play against the Blue Jackets. MacKinnon had a goal and three assists Thursday and was held out of the third period with an upper-body injury for precautionary reasons with the Avalanche holding a commanding 8-3 lead.
"We didn't put him out there this morning just because we are going to give him a little rest," Bednar said.
Goalie
Philipp Grubauer and forwards
Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog and
Colin Wilson remain out with lower-body injuries. Bednar said he expects Grubauer to accompany the team on its five-game road trip that starts Tuesday in Winnipeg.
The Avalanche recalled forward
Jayson Megna from the Colorado Eagles, but he’ll be a healthy scratch against Columbus. They’ll recall another player before the trip.
The Avalanche lineup:
FORWARDS
Matt Calvert -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Joonas Donskoi
Tyson Jost – Nazem Kadri -- J.T. Compher
Matt Nieto -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Valeri Nichushkin
Andre Burakovsky -- Vladislav Kamenev -- T.J. Tynan
DEFENSE
Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson
Ryan Graves -- Cale Makar
Ian Cole -- Mark Barberio
GOALIES
Pavel Francouz
Adam Werner