DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche will be without their leading goal scorer Ross Colton for at least six weeks after he broke his foot blocking a shot.
A banged-up Colorado team also will be missing another forward in Miles Wood for the next week or so due to an upper-body injury. The injuries continue to pile up for the Avalanche, who are already without Jonathan Drouin (upper body), captain Gabriel Landeskog (knee) and Artturi Lehkonen (shoulder). In addition, Valeri Nichushkin remains out until at least mid-November as he serves a suspension.
The forward situation has reached the point where Avalanche coach Jared Bednar is going to move defenseman Oliver Kylington up front against Tampa Bay.
“The players’ focus has to be on doing their job to the best of their ability on any given night,” Bednar explained. “You can’t get frustrated, because it doesn’t look the same as what we sort of pictured it looking when we have everybody. The nonnegotiable details of our game, they really don’t change.
“It’s about building habits that are sustainable, that will lead to success long term. There’s no question that as you add guys into the lineup, your overall game will look better.”
Colton suffered the injury when he stuck his foot out to block a shot in a 5-2 loss to Chicago. He tried to play through it before eventually leaving.
The loss of Colton is a big blow to a line that included Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Colton started the season strong with a team-best eight goals in 10 games. He came up big on special teams, too, with four power-play goals.
“Colts was playing so well,” defenseman Josh Manson said. “It just sucks, that injury, on a dedicated play for the team. That hurts.”
Manson said the team met to reiterate one thing: “The focus is what’s in the room right now,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s a work ethic-based thing whether who’s in the lineup or who’s not.”
Bednar said Lehkonen recently met with his doctor and the team could soon have a timeline for a return. Bednar added that Lehkonen would need a few practices with contact to get up to speed.
“Every year we seem to go through a stretch where we’re scraping to get a lineup of 20,” Bednar said of the rash of recent injuries. “What makes this one unique is it’s right out of the gate. Right around the time you’re hoping for some reinforcements back in the lineup, another few guys go down.
“It happens to everyone at some point during the course of a season. You’re just hoping that too many of them don’t pile up at the same time. That’s the case for us right now, and we just have to battle through it.”
Notes: Colorado goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen, who was claimed on waivers from Winnipeg on Oct. 1, was slated to start in goal. Kahkonen played in two games for the Colorado Eagles, the team’s AHL affiliate, and posted a 2.57 goals-against average.
