The Avalanche will be without their captain for two games.
The NHL Department of Player Safety announced Thursday that Gabriel Landeskog has been suspended for two games. Landeskog will miss Saturday’s divisional battle against the St. Louis Blues at home and Monday’s road game in Washington. He is eligible to return in the second of Colorado’s three-game road trip next week against the Florida Panthers.
Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog has been suspended for two games for Boarding Chicago’s Kirby Dach. https://t.co/glWKL7DAgq
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) October 14, 2021
Landeskog received a minor penalty for boarding after he sent young Chicago Blackhawks forward Kirby Dach hard into the boards late in the third period. Dach was uninjured on the play but was down in a vulnerable position at the time of the hit.
After the Avalanche’s 4-2 victory, assistant coach Ray Bennett, who was filling in for head coach Jared Bednar postgame, said he wasn’t sure if the NHL would discipline Landeskog for the hit.
“Landy’s a clean and hard-nosed player who is highly competitive,” Bennett said. “I hope it’s just viewed as a hockey play. But that’ll go way above me.”
Landeskog has been suspended three other times in his career, the last of which was in 2017. Two of his suspensions were for cross-checking (seven games total) and one saw him serve two games for an illegal check to the head in 2015.
Landeskog will forfeit $70,000 in salary for his latest suspension.
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Aarif Deen is our Colorado Avalanche beat reporter. He covers Avs games live from Ball Arena and attends practices, media availabilities and other events pertaining to the Avs on the daily beat. He is also a co-host of Hockey Mountain High: Your go-to Avalanche Podcast. Deen joined Mile High Sports upon completion of his bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in business administration from the University of Michigan – Dearborn. Before Mile High Sports, Deen worked for the Michigan Wolverines Athletics Department as the assistant sports information director.
Follow him on Twitter @runwriteAarif