Injured Avalanche center Pierre Turgeon is not practicing with the team three weeks after injuring a shoulder and might not return before the NHL Olympic break.
The Avs originally said Turgeon would miss three to four weeks with a shoulder strain, which he suffered Jan. 7 against Columbus.
But the team said there is now no timetable on his return. He is skating on his own. Turgeon’s absence puts more pressure on top center Joe Sakic, who entered Saturday’s game with Vancouver without a goal in 11 of his previous 12 games.
Busy day
For Peter McNab, Saturday was a hockey doubleheader.
The Avalanche’s longtime television color analyst worked two games in separate states. Earlier in the day, he worked the Detroit Red Wings game in Dallas against the Stars for NBC, then caught a flight to just barely make the opening faceoff for the Avs- Canucks game.
Naslund out
Canucks star Markus Naslund missed his first game of the season with a hip pointer injury.
Naslund is Vancouver’s leading scorer with 23 goals and 54 points. He is expected to return Tuesday night.
The Canucks also played without top defenseman Ed Jovanovski because of injury.
Footnotes
The Avalanche was nearly rewarded with a goal in the second period when a deflected puck on a delayed Avs penalty almost went into the empty Canucks net. Goalie Alex Auld left for an extra skater and the puck hit the side of the post after coming from the Avs’ end. … Avs left wing Brad May returned to the lineup from a sprained left knee.
