The Avalanche will be without another crucial piece of its lineup for the foreseeable future. Depth forward Andrew Cogliano suffered a fractured neck in Game 6 on Friday and is out indefinitely.
Cogliano, 35, was checked into the boards from behind by Kraken forward Jordan Eberle and left the game. He later returned to finish what was an eventual 4-1 victory by the Avs, who staved off elimination to force a Game 7 Sunday at Ball Arena. Cogliano will miss the winner-take-all battle.
Eberle was given a two-minute minor for boarding and did not receive any extra supplemental discipline from the NHL Department of Player Safety. The series has already seen one suspension when Avs superstar Cale Makar missed Game 5 to serve a suspension for injuring Jared McCann in Seattle.
Andrew Cogliano went straight down the tunnel into the locker room after being boarded by Jordan Eberle#GoAvsGo | #seaKraken pic.twitter.com/YUw4bavNQU
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) April 29, 2023
“I don’t know. I can’t figure it out anymore. I don’t even try,” head coach Jared Bednar told reporters in Colorado on Saturday. Bednar was upset that Eberle did not receive a hearing for the illegal check. He also suggested Friday night that the officials should’ve called Eberle for a five-minute major and reviewed the hit rather than call it a minor penalty from the onset.
The Avs’ depth will be challenged once more. They are already without captain Gabriel Landeskog (knee injury), forward Darren Helm (lower body), winger Valeri Nichushkin (personal reasons) and defenseman Josh Manson (lower body). Colorado also sent down defenseman Brad Hunt to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on Saturday.