Cale Makar will “miss some time” for the Colorado Avalanche because of an upper-body injury, coach Jared Bednar told Altitude Sports Radio on Wednesday.
The defenseman was injured in a 9-2 win against the Calgary Flames on Monday. He had three assists in the win, including the primary assist on Nathan MacKinnon‘s power-play goal with 35 seconds left in the second period on what was his final shift of the game. Two shifts earlier, Makar was hit by Flames forward Adam Klapka with 5:28 left in the second. He did not take any shifts in the third period.
“Nothing serious, though,” Bednar added.
The Avalanche have nine games remaining in the regular season. Makar will not play against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET; ALT, SN, TVAS); following that game, they visit the Dallas Stars on Saturday before hosting the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.
Colorado (49-14-10) is first in the Central Division and has clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which begin April 18.
Makar is third among defensemen with 75 points (20 goals, 55 assists) in 73 games this season and is averaging 24:53 of ice time per game.
A two-time winner of the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman, including last season, Makar has 503 points (136 goals, 367 assists) in 468 regular-season games.
