The Colorado Avalanche are tied in wins with the Tampa Bay Lightning with 37, but are three wins ahead of the Minnesota Wild in the Central Division with three games in hand. However, it is what happened to the Dallas Stars recently that makes things a lot easier for Colorado.
According to reports, Stars winger Mikko Rantanen will be out for a while due to an injury suffered during the Winter Olympics. Rantanen is expected to be out for a minimum of four weeks. With the Avalanche scheduled to face the Stars in just 11 days, that means Rantanen will miss that game when Colorado returns to Dallas.
Rantanen has 20 goals and 49 assists in 54 games this season. He had been on a little bit of a cold streak as of late, with five games in between his last two goals. He did have a goal in three-straight games to start December, but that’s coming up on three months ago already.
One thing that really hurts the Stars and will help the Avs is that he’s got 30 power play points this season—five goals and 25 assists. They’ll be missing that production big-time throughout the next couple of weeks, which should allow the Avs to maintain their ground.
Colorado Avalanche won’t face Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby
The more notable injury across the NHL is to Penguins star and future hall of famer Sidney Crosby. Crosby was also hurt during the Winter Olympics and missed several games for Team Canada, including the Gold Medal game.
Crosby is expected to miss a minimum of four weeks. Colorado will face the Penguins on March 16, just 19 days from now.
He has 27 goals and 32 assists in 56 games, including 10 goals and assists on the power play.
It will sting really bad for the Penguins over the next four weeks because, not only will they be missing their top player, they’ll be missing their leader. That can really damage a team, and throughout such a big stretch, could hurt their chances of maintaining their spot in the Metropolitan Division (second place).
The Avalanche need to take full advantage of the injuries to these top players. The players returning from the Olympics were hot during the tournament and they need to stay hot through the final stretch of the 2025-26 season. If they do that, the Avalanche will be feared once again.