The Colorado Avalanche will be without stars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar for multiple weeks due to injury, coach Jared Bednar said Saturday.
MacKinnon is out at least a month, while Makar will be out approximately two weeks. Both players suffered lower-body injuries in the team’s Thursday night game against the Ottawa Senators.
MacKinnon, who leads the team in both points (30) and assists (20), left with just over eight minutes remaining the loss to Ottawa after a check from Artem Zub in the hip area and was seen grabbing his right side.
Makar, one of the league’s top defensemen, left the Sens game shortly before MacKinnon. He seemed to suffer a noncontact injury while coming to a stop in the Avs’ offensive zone.
It’s significant blow to Colorado, which relies heavily on both players to drive its offense. Both MacKinnon and Makar are on the top power play unit, which has scored 10 goals in its last 10 games.
Makar is third among defensemen with 23 points in 19 games.
The Avalanche had an uneven start to the season but were beginning to find their footing. After opening 5-4-1, Colorado has improved to 11-6-3 and enters Saturday in third in the Central Division.
The Avs are already without defenseman Josh Manson, who is on long-term injured reserve with an ankle injury. With Makar and Manson unavailable, the Avalanche will lean more heavily on Devon Toews and Sam Malinski.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
