A doctor's update on Cale Makar's injury is causing serious concern
Cale Makar gave Jared Bednar a playoff scare when Colorado's star defenseman headed down the tunnel after a collision near the net.
That became the story right away. Not the score, not the flow, but whether the Avalanche were suddenly staring at life without their top blue-line driver.
The clip made it easy to see why people reacted fast. Makar got tied up low, twisted awkwardly, and then left the ice with the kind of body language that gets an entire bench looking down the hallway.
That's where this gets heavy for Colorado. Makar is not just another defenseman in Bednar's rotation. He is the player who changes exits, entries, puck movement, and the entire feel of their transition game.
Zuccarello leaned into him near the goal line, Makar got tangled up, and the replay left a real pause around the sequence.
Once a star like that disappears to the room, every second starts to feel longer. And when another social post starts floating shoulder concerns, the noise only gets louder, even without anything official attached to it yet.
Colorado can't brush that off. Makar finished the regular season with 24 goals and 84 points in 81 games, and those are numbers that sit at the center of everything the Avalanche do from the back end.
There isn't much on this play but just wonder if he's playing through that still and thus the clips of him looking injured
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A doctor just weighed in on Cale Makar's injury and it's causing panic
The Avalanche finished 55-16-11 with 121 points and a 99 goal differential, so this is a team built around pace, control, and high-end puck movement. Lose Makar, even for a stretch, and the entire structure tightens up.
That's why the tunnel walk matters more than any single hit total or shift chart. Colorado has depth, but it does not have another defenseman who can replace Makar's minutes and carry the same load at both ends.
His average ice time sat at 26:52 in the regular season. That is not sheltered usage. That is Bednar leaning on him in every major situation that shapes a playoff game.
So even before there is any real update, the tension is obvious. If Makar is fine, Colorado exhales and moves on. If he is limited, the entire series shifts.
That is why this clip hit so hard. Playoff hockey is built on attrition, but when the player heading down the tunnel is Cale Makar, the stakes jump in a hurry.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 13, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Nick Foligno | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Parker Kelly | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brett Kulak | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matthew Boldy | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brent Burns | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Martin Necas | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Nico Sturm | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jack Drury | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Marcus Johansson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nathan MacKinnon | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Quinn Hughes | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Kirill Kaprizov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nicolas Roy | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Devon Toews | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Ahcan | - | - | - | |
| Mackenzie Blackwood | - | - | - | |
| Ross Colton | - | - | - | |
| Brock Faber | - | - | - | |
| Marcus Foligno | - | - | - | |
| Ryan Hartman | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||