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Broken ankle shelves Zadorov for season; Johnson, Bourque practice |
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Rick Sadowski
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Avalanche defenseman Nikita Zadorov sustained a broken ankle Monday in a collision with teammate Mikko Rantanen in practice and will miss the remainder of the season.
Zadorov was injured with about five minutes left in practice and needed help getting off the ice.
"He hurt his leg, so he'll have to go get evaluated and we'll see what comes from that," coach Jared Bednar said before the extent of the injury was known. "He got tangled up with Mikko. He actually fell on top of Mikko, but his leg got trapped underneath Mikko and he fell awkwardly."
The 6-feet-5, 230-pound Zadorov, 21, has 10 assists, 73 penalty minutes and 152 hits in 56 games. He's been one of the few brights for the Avalanche this season.
The Avalanche play Los Angeles at the Pepsi Center on Tuesday.
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Defenseman Erik Johnson and forward Rene Bourque practiced while wearing non-contact jerseys. It was Johnson's first such practice since he sustained a broken fibula Dec. 3 against Dallas. Bourque has missed the past 14 games with a head injury.
"(Johnson) did the better part of practice, so he's improving," Bednar said. "We'll just see what (Tuesday) brings. He's had some days where he's felt real good and others not. He seems to be on the right path. Hopefully he'll be joining the team for (full contact) practice in the next few days."
Bourque joined practice for the first time, which Bednar called "the first step" in his eventual return.
"He'll go back and be reevaluated, too, and see what comes up with him in the next couple days as well," Bednar said.
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The usually unflappable Calvin Pickard slammed his stick against the glass after the Avalanche's 3-2 overtime loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday and sat by himself in his locker after most teammates had departed.
Colorado got third-period goals from Rantanen and Matt Duchene -- the latter with 41.9 seconds left to forge a 2-2 tie -- before Jonathan Drouin scored in spectacular fashion to win it for the Lightning.
Rantanen has eight points (five goals, three assists) in the past nine games, while Duchene had gone 13 games without a goal since scoring twice against Chicago on Jan. 17. His shot from the right circle caromed into the net off Lightning defensemen Victor Hedman and Jake Dotchin.
Pickard made 37 saves in his third consecutive strong showing, but he was angry about the loss after a rare comeback and was still displeased about giving up a second-period goal to Vladislav Namestnikov, who skated down left wing with Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie and shot the puck between the goalie's pads from a sharp angle.
"I was frustrated," he said Monday. "You always want to win. It felt like we were going to win that game, coming back and we tie it up late. You want to get that win. You just have that feeling that you're going to win and you end up losing.
"I thought I played a great game, minus the mistake I made in the second. It was definitely a good step in the right direction for our team being down 2-0 and coming back and forcing overtime."
Pickard, who will start against the Kings, has a 1.96 goals-against average and .941 save percentage in his past three starts, going 1-1-1 because the Avalanche have only scored four goals in this stretch.
"The last three games, I've really liked them," he said. "I made a couple mistakes throughout those games, but other than those mistakes I thought I played really well. I made some big saves, kept the other teams to two goals through regulation in all three games, so it's been good. I want to give my team a chance to win every night."
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