The 2022-23 season was fraught with injuries to key players for the Avalanche, so a palpable angst and the feeling of “Here we go again” every time a Colorado player is down on the ice early in this campaign is understandable.
While the Avs have been relatively healthy so far, Artturi Lehkonen left the game Thursday night after a scary collision with the end boards and went to a local hospital as a precaution for further evaluation. Coach Jared Bednar did not have an update on Lehkonen after the game but said his concern level is high anytime a player goes to the hospital.
There were no updates on Lehkonen’s condition as of Friday afternoon, but a team spokesman did say Thursday night that he was alert, responsive and had full movement after skating off the ice with some assistance.
“He’s obviously one of the toughest guys on our team. He’s hard as nails,” defenseman Cale Makar said after the game. “Especially when he doesn’t get up, you get a little worried because it could be something a little more serious. Hopefully he’s alright.”
Lehkonen was chasing after the puck to the right of the Seattle net in the second period when the incident occurred. He had to maneuver around Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson, and then took a swing at the puck near the goal line. Larsson’s partner, Jamie Oleksiak, got there a split-second before Lehkonen, swiped the puck out of danger into the corner and then the two players collided.
Oleksiak is one of the largest players in the NHL, and Lehkonen was already bent over from contorting his body to get around Larsson. The hit resulted in Lehkonen going face first into the boards. He was down on the ice, then there appeared to be blood on his nose/face as he left with the help of a member of the team’s athletic training staff and Nathan MacKinnon.
“I just looked at it once. I think it’s just that he got caught in a bad spot and ran into a big guy,” Bednar said. “When I first glanced at it, I’m not sure it’s a penalty. I think it’s just where they made contact, how he went in and Oleksiak is a big man. He kind of got his foot tangled and went in head first.”
The Avs have had only two players miss one game each because of injury so far this season, not counting the long-term issues for Gabriel Landeskog and Pavel Francouz. Andrew Cogliano missed the opener because he was still recovering from two broken bones in his neck after a hit against Seattle in the playoffs in April. Fredrik Olofsson missed the game Tuesday with an upper-body ailment but returned to face the Kraken.
Makar also left the game in Buffalo late last month after a high-speed collision near the end boards, but he ended up not missing any additional contests. A combination of injuries and Valeri Nichushkin leaving the team for personal reasons before Game 3 of the series left the Avalanche shorthanded during its first-round loss to the Kraken in April.
Lehkonen is a jack-of-all-trades type of player for the Avs. He plays on one of the team’s top two lines and is a key figure on both special teams units. He has three goals and eight points in 12 games, which is tied for fourth on the club with Nichushkin.
“He’s just an ultimate warrior out there and a great teammate,” Cogliano said. “You never want to see that.”
While Bednar and the players on the ice at the time of the incident didn’t have a problem with Oleksiak’s part in the Lehkonen injury, they did object to Vince Dunn’s hit on Cogliano in the third period. Dunn hit Cogliano in the back right in front of the Seattle bench.
It was clearly a hit from behind, in both real time and after looking at replays. That alone was probably enough to incur a response from the Avs, but the history involved heightened the tension. Cogliano was shaken up on the play and left the game briefly, but did return.
Colorado defenseman Bo Byram immediately challenged Dunn to a fight. It was an abbreviated scrap, and Bednar was not pleased with the penalty distribution — four minutes for Byram and two for Dunn, which led to a Kraken power play.
Seattle did not score on the man advantage but did find a game-winning goal in the final minute to grab a 4-3 victory.
“We battled a lot of elements, with guys going down,” Makar said. “It felt like our work ethic was top-notch. Compete-wise, I felt we played to the best of our abilities. Some games, it’s just not going to your way, and (Thursday) was one of those.”
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