When Cale Makar was carted into the x-ray room during the intermission of a dominant victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 15, he admitted something had been bothering him. He told me postgame that something was lingering since the second game of the season.
Whether those lingering issues are what kept him out of Saturday’s 6-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets or not is purely speculation at this point. But it’s safe to assume that Makar isn’t 100 percent and likely has been playing through something for several weeks, if not months. Without Makar, and with goalie Ivan Prosvetov starting for the third time in four games, Colorado fell to its division rival Jets, who took control of first place in the Central Division in the process.
Jonathan Drouin and Jack Johnson scored for the Avs. But neither found the back of the net until the Jets led 3-0. A deficit which the Avalanche were unable to recover from at any point.
Prosvetov has been the decisive goalie in each of the four. But this one didn’t quite go as well as the last two. Prosvetov made just 19 saves on 24 shots before the Jets added an empty netter for good measure. This came following a solid performance on Wednesday, making 29 saves in a 5-1 Avalanche victory over Buffalo.
Alexandar Georgiev, the team’s likely starter, who has been given somewhat of a break after a string of inconsistent performances, is likely to take the helm on Sunday in Colorado’s second of a back-to-back against the San Jose Sharks at Ball Arena.
