Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog appears ready to make his first NHL appearance in nearly three years after the team activated him from the injured list on Monday.
He hasn’t played since lifting the Stanley Cup in 2022 and has been rehabbing a knee injury, including receiving a cartilage transplant.
There’s a need for him, too, because forward Ross Colton suffered a lower-body injury in Game 1 on Saturday night, a 5-1 win for Colorado.
Colorado’s Jared Bednar, as coaches typically are this time of year, was coy earlier Monday about the status of Colton and Landeskog for Game 2 against the Dallas Stars.
He said Colton is ‘not great’ and ‘we’ll see what the day brings’ if he’s an option for Monday’s game.
On whether Landeskog could replace Colton, he said, ‘We’ll see. I haven’t decided yet.’
Here’s the latest on the injury status for Gabriel Landeskog and other players heading into Monday’s games:
Gabriel Landeskog injury update
Landeskog hasn’t played for the Avalanche since their 2022 Stanley Cup championship because of a serious knee injury that required a cartilage transplant. He recently completed a two-game conditioning stint in the American Hockey League, scoring a goal in the second game of playing back-to-back nights.
He took part in the morning skate before Game 1 but didn’t dress. Bednar told reporters Sunday that Landeskog could be an option if Colton were unavailable.
Miro Heiskanen injury update
The Stars defenseman, who has been out with a knee injury since before the 4 Nations Face-Off, is skating with the team. But he will be out again in Game 2, coach Peter DeBoer said.
Logan Thompson injury update
The Washington Capitals goalie got the start Monday against the Montreal Canadiens. He hadn’t played since leaving an April 2 game with an upper-body injury.
Matthew Tkachuk injury update
Tkachuk, who hasn’t played since being hurt at the 4 Nations Face-Off, took part in a full practice Monday for the Florida Panthers, who open their series on Tuesday at the Tampa Bay Lightning.
‘He’s got to get through the morning skate (Tuesday),’ coach Paul Maurice said. ‘We’re still monitoring the recovery off the practice. … We’ll let the doctors and Matthew tell us where he’s at and we’ll go from there.’
Cody Glass, Brenden Dillon injury update
Both New Jersey Devils players were injured in Game 1’s loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, with Glass accidentally slashed by his own goalie, Jacob Markstrom.
According to Devils team reporter Amanda Stein, coach Sheldon Keefe said the injured players are still being evaluated and no one is being ruled out yet for Game 2.