Avs injury list grows as Nikita Zadorov now out indefinitely

The hits keep coming.

The Avalanche held an optional practice on Friday, but the big news of the day came after practice when coach Jared Bednar announced Nikita Zadorov would be out “indefinitely” due to the injury he suffered from taking a puck to the face in Thursday’s blowout victory over Nashville.

While Bednar did not confirm the injury itself, sources have told DNVR that the big Russian blue liner suffered a broken jaw, among other work needed to his teeth.

“I don’t have all the details of his injury just yet, but we’ll know later today,” Bednar said to the media after the optional practice on Friday.

For now, the Avs will stick with their six healthy defensemen for the one game remaining on their homestand, which means Ian Cole will jump back into the lineup on Saturday. After that, the plan is for the Avs to call up either a forward or defensemen before they head out on their five-game road trip.

The big controversy from the play with Zadorov was the refs decision to not blow the play dead. Zadorov laid on the ice, with blood coming from his mouth, for several seconds before getting up, clearing the puck, and heading straight to the locker room. He laid on the ice for so long that Avs head trainer Matt Sokolowski jumped onto the ice to help him, only to have to jump off because the refs didn’t blow it dead.

I spoke to a player in the Avs locker room who believed the play should have been blown dead, citing that the health of the players should be the top concern, but they understand the refs have a tough job and the play moves quickly. Bednar agreed.

“I thought they should have blown it down right away,” Bednar said. “I’d like to see them just give it a couple of seconds to make sure he doesn’t go down and get back up, but once he stays down, you want to see them blow it. I know it’s a power play, but I think they’re instructed to just figure out the severity of the what the injury is, and if they think it’s bad, just blow it down.”

Beyond that, the Avs are a little dinged up all over their lineup, but Bednar doesn’t expect anyone else to miss time, including star Nathan MacKinnon, who was held out of the third period for precautionary reasons.

“I think he’s going to be fine,” Bednar said about MacKinnon. “I expect him to play tomorrow. We have a handful of guys who are knicked up and the rest is important.”

NEWS AND NOTES FROM PRACTICE

• A pretty small group of players on the ice today, with the only guys skating being TJ Tynan, JT Compher, Tyson Jost, Cale Makar, Ian Cole, Ryan Graves, and Mark Barberio. Both Pavel Francouz and Adam Werner were on the ice as well.
• Bednar has experience with Tynan in the past, having coached him in the AHL in the Blue Jackets organization, but he was happy with his play last night and said he’s largely not gotten a chance due to his size.
• Bednar joked that “bad things happen in three’s, and hopefully we’re at six right now” regarding the injuries they’re dealing with to some key players early in the season.
• The coach did not mince his words when it came to his goaltending on Thursday night, stating that the four goals didn’t have a lot to do with the defense. “I would say our goaltender didn’t have a great night,” he told the media. You don’t win many games while giving up four goals, so the Avs will need Francouz to be better against Columbus on Saturday.