Anton Lindholm was free to beam a big smile Wednesday in the Avalanche locker room. Not because he finally gummed a plate of mashed potatoes, his first solid food in weeks, and not only because his jaw was no longer wired shut.
Colorado’s 23-year-old rookie defenseman is back in the lineup for the first time in nearly a month, in a second-line pairing with Tyson Barrie for a game against the streaking Winnipeg Jets.
Lindholm’s return, for the first time since he was hit in the face with a shot Nov. 4 in Philadelphia, marked another shakeup on the Avs’ blue line.