During last night's loss to the Philadelphia Flyers the Colorado Avalanche received more bad news. Star forward Nathan MacKinnon left the game in the first period and did not return. It appears he will miss some time with an upper body injury as well. Colorado already has an extensive list of injured players that includes Gabriel Landeskog, Valeri Nichuskin, Artturi Lehokonen, and Evan Rodrigues just to name a few.
Colorado has already used twenty-two different forwards in the lineup at some point this year. All teams battle through injuries through the year, but Colorado seems to be really banged up right now. Sometime that's just how things go in the National Hockey League. Hopefully all these injuries do not derail Colorado's chance at the playoffs.
It was difficult to pinpoint the exact moment MacKinnon was injured. He did take several hits from Flyers forward Scott Laughton right in front of the Flyers bench. Perhaps he injured himself as Laughton pushed Mackinnon over the half boards. Mackinnon also looked to be ailing after he took a shot on goal during a Colorado power play. Hopefully for MacKinnon and Colorado this is not an injury where he will miss a long period of time. You hate to see any superstar player out of the lineup for any team.
