The Colorado Avalanche will not have Jared Bednar behind the bench for their final two road games of the regular season.
On Sunday, the organization announced that Bednar will not accompany the team to Edmonton and Calgary after taking a puck to the right cheek during Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. Bednar suffered facial fractures and a corneal abrasion due to the impact of the puck, according to the team. He will not require surgery and is expected to make a full recovery.
With Bednar staying home, assistant coaches Dave Hakstol and Nolan Pratt will coach the team against the Oilers and Flames.
In addition to being without Bednar, there is also the possibility that the Avalanche will be without Josh Manson, who left Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury. The team recalled defenseman Jack Ahcan from the American Hockey League for the two-game road trip. Colorado did not practice on Sunday, so there was no update on Manson’s status, but with the team having wrapped up the top seed in the Western Conference, there’s no reason to push a player to play through any injury right now, even if it’s minor.
After returning from the two-game road trip, the Avalanche will play their final regular-season game at home on Thursday at 8 p.m. against the Seattle Kraken. The NHL playoffs are set to get underway on Saturday, but a postseason schedule is unlikely to be available until the regular season wraps up.