“No timeline” for Nathan MacKinnon’s return after sustaining an upper-body injury, says Coach Jared Bednar

Nathan MacKinnon’s injury prevented him to participate in any further games as of now. Avalanche coach Bednar noted that there is a ‘high’ level of concern around the 26-year-old centre’s injury. He stated that it’s possible that Nathan suffered from the injury from his fight with Matt Dumba on Sunday’s playoff, with a 3-2 loss against Minnesota Wild.

Nathan couldn’t play for the Avalance against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday. There’s been a high level of tension going around the team because of the injury their alternate captain suffered. though they have been trying to focus on their future games, they are quite upset over this matter. Nathan has been injured quite a time during his plays.

He has suffered from a concussion and a facial fracture in January. In February he had to be sidelined due to his lower-body injury. We can say that his playoff time is not going great this season. Prior to these incidents, he has helped the Avalance team sit atop the Western Conference with a 46-14-6 record.

Avalanche concerned over Nathan MacKinnon’s injury

“You come to expect it. He’s a competitor,” Avalance coach Bednar said after Nathan’s decision to fight with Matt. “He didn’t like it. Clean hit, hard hit, but he jumps in, sticks up for his teammate. Come to expect that from him.”

The all-star player Nathan MacKinnon had to leave the Avalance in advance on their Tuesday game in Calgary and returned to Denver for further evaluation. While Avalance is stating that Nathan injured his upper body, Mike Chambers of the Denver Post said that Nathan could have hurt his hand in the fight. The conflict occurred early in the third period at the 5:46 mark when Wild defenseman Matt Dumba delivered a high hit near the head of Mikko Rantanen. 

In order to defend his teammate, Nathan dropped his glove and engaged in a few hard blows to the head, back, and neck, with Matt. Nathan and Matt were charged with penalties. Avalanches defenseman Cale Marker stated,

“I haven’t talked to Nate yet, it was a pretty quick turnaround for him,”. “Hopefully it’s not something super serious, but at the end of the day, when you lose a key guy on our team like that, that’s not going to be easy to fill the role.”

Nathan has been limited to 51 games this season because of injuries. So far, he has scored 70 points with 22 goals and 48 assists. 

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