Nathan MacKinnon to play against Dallas

Nathan MacKinnon, who took a stick to his right eye in Friday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks, has been cleared to play for Saturday’s game against the Dallas Stars, the Colorado Avalanche confirmed to BSN Denver.

MacKinnon took the stick from Anaheim’s Derek Grant in the first period, which went unpenalized, and never returned to the game. He left the ice unable to open the eye, which prompted huge worry. Players such as Bryan Berard and Henry Boucha lost the vision in eyes from sticks to them, and numerous players had serious injuries to them back in the days where players didn’t wear visors.

MacKinnon does wear a visor, but Grant’s stick came up from below and caught his eye on a play around the net. The stick was unintentional, but it probably should have resulted in a penalty, which would have given the Avs a 5-on-3.

Semyon Varlamov will start in goal for the Avs, who look to improve to 5-1 on the season.