Avalanche’s Landeskog activated from IR, not playing Game 2

Article content

DALLAS — The Colorado Avalanche activated captain Gabriel Landeskog off injured reserve, but again delayed his much-anticipated return when he was scratched from playing Game 2 of their first-round series against the Dallas Stars on Monday night.

Article content

Landeskog, who hasn’t played in nearly three years, was the first Avalanche skater to take the ice for pregame warmups after being activated earlier in the day. But when the roster report was released after that, he was a scratch.

It has been more than 1,000 days since the 32-year-old forward last played for the Avalanche on June 26, 2022, when they beat Tampa Bay 2-1 in Game 6 to clinch the Stanley Cup.

The series switches to Denver for Game 3 on Wednesday night.

A chronic right knee injury that led to two surgeries kept him off the ice through multiple attempts to get back.

Landeskog did a two-game conditioning stint with the American Hockey League’s Colorado Eagles earlier this month to take another step forward in the process. He had practised with the Avalanche leading to their opener in the NHL playoffs.

Having Landeskog could be boost for the Avalanche, who won the series opener 5-1 against the short-handed Stars. Dallas is without top defenceman Miro Heiskanen after his knee surgery and leading goal-scorer Jason Robertson, who was injured in the final game of the regular season.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Play Video

Share this article in your social network