Here we go again: Avs move forward despite another key injury

The universe apparently decided the Avs had been healthy for long enough.

Nazem Kadri, who has anchored the Avs second line all season and is only bested in goals on the team by Nathan MacKinnon, will be out “indefinitely” with a lower-body injury, the Avs announced on Tuesday. He got tangled up after a face-off in Sunday’s 3-2 victory over Minnesota and twisted his right leg. After attempting to take another shift in the third period, he left the game for good.

Now, the team will be forced to move forward without him.

“A lot,” MacKinnon said after Tuesday’s morning skate when asked what the Avs lose in Kadri. “He’s a great centerman, great face-off guy, great power play guy. It’s going to be a big loss but we’ve had lots of injuries this season and hopefully we can weather that one too.”

Veteran defenseman Ian Cole said much of the same.

“He’s been awesome for us,” Cole said. “The vision, the patience that he has out there is world-class. We’re certainly going to miss him. That being said, just because he’s not here, doesn’t mean we can’t continue to win hockey games. We need guys to step up. Kammy (Vladislav Kamenev) has been fantastic for us when he’s stepped in, and we’re going to expect him to step up, and we’re going to expect Compher and Bellemare and everyone to step up and do more.”

Kamenev will step back into the lineup for the first time since before the All-Star break, and likely fill in on the fourth line, but the guy making the big jump up will be J.T. Compher, who will start against Ottawa with Gabriel Landeskog and Joonas Donskoi as his wingers.

“I’ve liked the way he’s been playing,” Bednar said about Compher. “Good pace to his game, good tenacity to his game. I like the way he checks. He’s involved in a lot of different aspects of our games, so to me, he’s a guy we should look at in that position playing with some of those skill guys because I think he compliments them really well.”

After a five-game road trip, the Avs will now be home for five games over the next nine days, including the Stadium Series game at Air Force Academy on Saturday evening.

“It’s always good to get back home,” Bednar said before facing off against Ottawa. “We haven’t been here for a while. We’d like to rattle out a few of these home games and have some success.”

NEWS AND NOTES

• When asked by the Canadian media about his team, Nathan MacKinnon very confidently stated: “We have no weaknesses, in my opinion.” Straight and to the point.
• The Avs have not called up anyone yet to have around as an extra, and Kamenev has earned the right to step into the lineup at first injury. “He’s done a nice job for us when he’s been in the lineup. He’s been out a lot of the games just due to the numbers we have up front.”