Colorado avalanche

Jonathan Drouin is day-to-day with an upper-body injury and will miss at least the Avalanche’s next two games.

The forward was injured in an 8-4 loss at the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday. He finished the game minus-1 in 21:25 minutes of ice time.

“He certainly won’t play tomorrow (Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets) (or) Monday (New York Islanders),” coach Jared Bednar said, “and then he’ll keep re-evaluating and see where it goes.”

Drouin finished fourth in his career with 56 points (19 goals, 37 assists) in 79 regular season games with the Avalanche and signed a one-year contract on July 1.

“Every player missing makes the job more difficult, but it forces our team to immediately address the details and commitment of the game,” Bednar said. “We have said before that we have to expect that everyone in our lineup has to be at their best, not just playing in a role, but also being successful in that role in order to be successful. So that’s a little bit of pressure right out of the gate.”

Nikolai Kovalenko could take his place at the top alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.

Bednar said he will consider either recalling a forward from Colorado of the American Hockey League or fielding a lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen when the Avalanche host the Blue Jackets on Saturday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, BSOH). The team currently has eight defenders, including Oliver Kylington and John Ludvig.

The Avalanche claimed goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.

The 28-year-old posted a 7-24-3 record with a 3.64 goals-against average and .898 save percentage in 37 games (33 starts) for the San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils last season.

“He’s played well in some places, he’s free and we have space,” Bednar said. “So if we can push our goalies like we don’t know how it’s going to turn out, right? So we’ve seen better from our goalkeepers than we’ve seen here recently and if they can improve their game that’s great.” . And if Kahkonen can come in and play well, great.” – Ryan Boulding