Chris Johnston is worried about Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon, both listed day-to-day as the Avalanche play in Montreal tonight.
Both stars are listed with lower-body injuries according to the latest injury report. Makar's night in Ottawa ended early on Thursday, which we covered in Cale Makar's injury update before the Montreal game.
Johnston said the two are clearly trying to play through something and that there has to be concern about it.
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He framed the Avalanche around those two players. If you're Colorado, Johnston suggested, they are the whole franchise, and what they owe their teammates is part of the conversation.
Whether either one plays tonight hasn't been confirmed. The Avalanche have not been specific beyond the day-to-day label.
The production explains why the alarm is real. MacKinnon has 30 points in 20 games, and Makar has 23 points in 19 games, so the offense runs through both of them.
Colorado sits 11-6-3, third in the Central Division, and it lost 4-3 in overtime in Ottawa on Thursday. That's a team in decent shape, which makes any risk with these two harder to justify.
Should the Avalanche rest Makar and MacKinnon in Montreal?
Yes, at least one of them, and probably both if the training staff has any doubt. It's November, the Avalanche are in a playoff spot, and nothing in this record demands that two players who are visibly managing something stay in the lineup.
The road numbers add to the argument. Colorado is 4-5-1 away from home against 7-1-2 in its own building, so tonight was never going to be easy even at full strength.
Makar's exit in Ottawa was sudden. Gino Hard reported Makar was ruled out after a second-period play, and the fact that MacKinnon is now on the same injury list makes it look less like a one-off.
Jared Bednar's lineup for Montreal is the first real indication of how the Avalanche are handling it.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
What should the Avalanche do with Makar and MacKinnon tonight?
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