Nathan MacKinnon left the Avalanche’s game on Monday with eight minutes left in the first period and did not return. The superstar forward and team-leading point producer suffered an upper-body injury.

The Avs closed out their forgettable four-game road trip in Philadelphia with a 5-3 loss. They return home with just one win in four games, losing Josh Manson, Artturi Lehkonen and now MacKinnon to injuries in the process. Without MacKinnon and Lehkonen, Colorado is down to one top-six forward in Mikko Rantanen and is also missing two of its top-four defensemen to injury as Manson’s defensive pair partner Bowen Byram remains out.

Darren Helm, Kurtis MacDermid and Shane Bowers are also hurt.

Before MacKinnon’s injury, Colorado opened the scoring thanks to Alex Newhook. His fifth of the season came on the power play. Cale Makar and MacKinnon picked up assists on the tally. The Flyers then scored the next four goals to open up a 4-1 lead late in the third period.

The Avs found life in the final two minutes. It started with Rantenen barreling into the offensive zone and putting one past goalie Carter Hart with 2:23 remaining. And just 36 seconds later, Newhook added his second to make it 4-3. The Flyers quickly added an empty-net goal to put the game away.

In goal, Alexandar Georgiev made 23 saves. He has surrendered at least four goals in each of his last three games.

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