The infirmary ice was a busy place Wednesday at the Avalanche’s practice rink. Nathan MacKinnon, the all-star center who has carried Colorado into a mid-season resurgence and square into an NHL playoff chase, skated circles through two orange cones. It wasn’t enough. He added a green water bottle for some extra dipsy-doodles.
A left-shoulder injury separated MacKinnon from his team, onto the lonely island of recovery. The Avs, though, are plowing forward.
In their first game this season without two top-line skaters — MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen (lower-body injury) — the Avs on Tuesday streaked by San Jose for a 3-1 victory in Denver.