Colorado Avalanche Face Montréal Canadiens Without Mackinnon and Makar

Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar will miss upcoming games after sustaining injuries during an overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday Mile High Hockey reported.

The Colorado Avalanche wrap up their Canadian road trip tonight at the Bell Center against the Montréal Canadiens without two of their most productive players. Head coach Jared Bednar announced that Makar will be sidelined for two weeks, while MacKinnon will miss a month.

Bednar praised his squad’s resilience after Thursday’s 4-3 overtime defeat. “I liked our effort all around,” he told Mile High Hockey.

“It’s a good hockey team we played. If you’re running without a couple of horses, you know, for half the game, so, pretty gutsy effort from our group. I’ll take it. I mean, we weren’t perfect. We made some mistakes; they cost us, but all in all, I’m pretty happy with what we did. It’s a big point,” Bednar said.

The visiting Avalanche enter tonight’s matchup with an 11-6-3 record, holding a position in the Central Division standings ahead of Dallas, Utah, Winnipeg, and St. Louis. Meanwhile, the Canadiens share the Atlantic Division lead alongside Tampa with a 12-3-4 record.

Colorado recalled Gavin Brindley from Loveland to fill the vacant roster spot. Defenseman Alex Gagne is slated to make his NHL debut tonight, and veteran defenseman Brent Burns will skate in his 1,600th career game.

Montréal also deals with notable roster absences. Forward Ivan Demidov has missed over a month with a fractured ankle, and goaltender Sam Montembeault has been out since October 31 with a lower body injury. The Canadiens announced that Chris Kreider will miss six to eight weeks due to a lower-body injury.

Tonight’s contest kicks off a demanding stretch of five games in seven days for the Canadiens. Following tonight’s action, Montréal embarks on a three-game road trip starting next Monday.

The Avalanche and Canadiens previously split their two-game season series last year, though Colorado dropped a 7-3 decision during their last visit to Montreal while wearing their Quebec Nordiques heritage jerseys.

Both teams will meet again to conclude their season series on November 25, 2026, at Ball Arena.