The Colorado Avalanche’s 27-year-old captain Gabriel Landeskog has returned to practice as a non-contact participant after being designated with a “lower body injury” and last playing exactly one month ago, on Oct. 26 against the Anaheim Ducks. Getting Landeskog back in practice has to be a moral boost for a team that has now lost two straight and three of their last five.
Mikko Rantanen is also closer to playing with the squad after completing a full contact practice this morning. The Colorado Avalanche say that Rantanen will not play tomorrow against the Edmonton Oilers at the Pepsi Center, but he could be back in the starting lineup for the home-and-home series against the Chicago Blackhawks.
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Both these players are absolutely pivotal for the Colorado Avalanche’s success, and they have been missed in their absence. The team has gone 5-7 with two of their top three skaters out with injury after starting the season 8-1-1 with them available.
Mikko Rantanen was pacing the team with goals and points before a freak, non-contact injury tweaked his knee against the Blues on Oct. 21. Rantanen’s return will be much welcomed and hopefully the Avalanche have endured the early season injury bug and longevity and health are with the team for the rest of the season.
Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Andre Burakovsky, Joonas Donskoi and Nazem Kadri have all elevated their play and managed to keep this team afloat during the absence of the two top liners, but getting your best players and core leaders back on the ice will get the team back to dominance. At 13-8-2, the Avalanche are currently in fourth place in the Central Division behind the Blues, Stars, and Jets. Getting healthy is the first step in reclaiming their division lead.
