According to head coach Patrick Roy, the Colorado Avalanche don’t expect to have their leading scorer Matt Duchene available at any point during their first round series with the Minnesota Wild. The Avalanche won the first game 5-4 in overtime thanks to the heroics of long-time Av Paul Stastny to take an early lead in the series.
Roy said before Game 2 on Saturday that he would be “very, very surprised” if Duchene returns against the Wild, especially since Duchene hasn’t even started skating yet.
Duchene was injured when he collided with teammate Jamie McGinn in a late season game with the San Jose Sharks. While the Avalanche haven’t officially announced the nature of the injury, it is believed to be a knee injury.
The team originally announced Duchene would be out roughly four weeks, which would have potentially meant a return for Game 5. Roy was quick to dispell that notion saying, “I don’t think we’ll see him.”
Matt Duchene was having a remarkable season with 23 goals 47 assists and 70 points in 71 games. The assists and points are both career highs for Duchene. He was also part of Canada’s gold medal winning team at the Sochi Olympics. Matt Duchene was the Avalanche’s first pick, third overall, in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
The Avalanche are also without forward John Mitchell, who is out with a head injury. Roy said that Mitchell is not ready to play.
Colorado lost Alex Tanguay for the season to hip and knee injuries earlier in the season.
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