After five feverish months of working hard to return to the Avalanche lineup, left wing Steve Konowalchuk lasted two games before re-injuring himself.
This time, a groin injury is to blame for the veteran missing time, starting with Tuesday’s Game 3 against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Konowalchuk’s status is day to day, but it appears doubtful he will be ready for Game 4 on Thursday.
“Maybe the pace was too quick to jump back into it,” Konowalchuk said.
Konowalchuk’s spot in the lineup was taken by Brad May, who played on the fourth line with Pierre Turgeon and Ian Laperriere.
Konowalchuk skated for about 10 minutes Monday morning before the pain was too much. He missed most of the regular season with a wrist injury.
Quenneville backs Sauer
Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville indicated he won’t make any changes to the defensive rotation, despite playing Kurt Sauer only 11:50 in a nearly 80-minute game.
Quenneville said Sauer has been “effective” in the series. John-Michael Liles played only 13:38 for the Avs, and had some struggles at both ends.
Balanced Ducks
Anaheim’s top line of center Andy McDonald and winger Chris Kunitz and Teemu Selanne hasn’t produced a goal in the past two games. The fact the Ducks won those games by a combined 7-3 “is a great sign,” Selanne said.
“Our line, we could have easily had like three or four goals again tonight,” he added. “But that’s what it’s all about – balance with scoring.”
Footnotes
Entering the game, Avs goalie Jose Theodore had stopped 56-of-58 third-period shots (.966 save percentage) and all 11 in overtime. … Anaheim improved to 2-2 when trailing after two periods. … Avs captain Joe Sakic entered the game with 95 playoff assists, two behind all-time franchise leader Peter Forsberg. He got his 96th in the third period. … The Avs have held Anaheim scoreless in first periods in the series. … Anaheim’s Todd Marchant was a plus-4. … Wojtek Wolski has seen his ice time shrink through the postseason. After being a hero in Game 1 of the first round, he has not scored a goal and played just 7:48 on Tuesday.
