The Colorado Avalanche suffered another injury blow in Monday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. Colorado will now have to deal with an Artturi Lehkonen injury after he broke his finger in the second period of the 8-4 victory. The Finnish forward will head back to Denver to have surgery on his finger according to The Athletic’s Peter Baugh.
Avalanche's Lehkonen suffers broken finger vs. Canadiens
via @TheAthletic https://t.co/VgAE77197P
— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) March 14, 2023
Artturi Lehkonen Injury Leads to Surgery
Lehkonen left the game 12:57 into the second period after taking a shot to the hand according to Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar. The coach added that the 27-year-old winger will have surgery when he gets back to Denver. Lehkonen scored twice in the first period in his first game back in Montreal since being traded at last year’s deadline.
Over his seven-year NHL career, Lehkonen has played for the Canadiens and the Avlanche. He netted his milestone 100th goal during Monday’s game and has 107 assists in 474 career games. The Piikkio, Finland native has 20 goals and 29 assists for 49 points in 62 games this season. He has a Corsi for of 59.5 and a relative Corsi of 11.2.
Montreal selected Lehkonen in the second round with the 55th pick of the 2013 NHL Draft. He’s played for his native Finland at the international level and won a gold medal at the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championships.
What the Artturi Lehkonen Injury Means
The Avs continue to get bit by the injury bug as Gabriel Landeskog has been out for most of the season. Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Valeri Nichushkin have all missed time this season. Erik Johnson and Darren Helm are also currently out for Colorado. However, Colorado is still making its way up the standings.
Denis Malgin and Alex Newhook will likely get a shot to fill the void at left wing. Lehkonen will be missed and the Avalanche will hope that he can be back sooner rather than later. Colorado will need him if it wants to repeat as Stanley Cup champion.
Main photo by: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
