Eurolanche

Without Zadorov against LA Kings

After losing another one of their best defensemen to injury, the Avalanche (16-38-3) will try to pull together a strong outing against the Los Angeles Kings (28-26-4).

The horrendous experiment of a fan-base's pain tolerance that is the Avalanche's 2016-2017 season continued Monday as the Avalanche finished up their practice. Getting tangled up with Mikko Rantanen, the budding star that is Nikita Zadorov went down in pain. It didn't look good, and it wasn't. Later Monday afternoon, the Avalanche announced that Zadorov's breakout season was at an end with an ankle fracture. Zadorov had grown into one of the lone bright spots for the Avalanche in what has been a disastrous season. While Zadorov never put up offensive numbers, he has shown his ability to play top-pairing minutes and dominate some of the league's best players physically. Along with Erik Johnson, Zadorov has shown he is one of the Avalanche's best defensemen. Now, just as Johnson is starting to near a return, the Avalanche lose Zadorov for the rest of the season.

The Avs will be without both of their best defensemen when the Kings come to town Tuesday. The Kings have struggled since returning from their bye week, losing three straight. The hiatus coupled with the losing streak has put the Kings out of a playoff spot. The veteran squad will look to get back in the win column and into the wildcard hunt in the west Tuesday night in Denver.

With Zadorov out for the season, the Avs may give a look to a young prospect. Chris Bigras would be the most logical as far as NHL readiness, but Duncan Siemens, former first round pick is eligible for attribution this summer, and may warrant a look to help the Avalanche decide the future of the big defender with the club. But given the Avalanche's recent moves, don't be surprised to see Eric Gelinas return to the NHL.

Lines: Pickard (J. Smith) – Beauchemin-Barrie – Barberio-Goloubef – Tyutin-Wiercioch – Landeskog-MacKinnon-Rantanen – Grigorenko-Duchene-Nieto – Comeau-Mitchell-Iginla – Colborne-Soderberg-Martinsen

Source: Mile High Hockey (Article by Steven W. Page)

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