On the morning of its Tuesday game against Calgary, the Avalanche announced that a Monday MRI confirmed defenseman Jordan Leopold suffered a broken wrist in last Thursday’s game at Calgary.
Leopold is scheduled for surgery today and is expected to be out about four weeks, which would take him up to the final two weeks of the regular season.
Leopold missed the first 25 games of the season after offseason sports hernia surgery, then returned for five games before suffering a groin muscle injury that sidelined him for 17 more games. He had returned and played in 10 additional games before he was hurt at Calgary last week.
Even with Leopold out, the Avs suited up seven defensemen against the Flames, including Jeff Finger – who was recalled from Albany last week and was playing in his first NHL game.
Ken Klee played spot shifts at wing on the fourth line, in addition to playing on the back line, and Finger, a former St. Cloud State player, played a little over eight minutes in his NHL debut at age 27.
“I know this is what everybody says in this situation, but it is a dream come true,” Finger said after the game. “I was OK until the national anthem, and then the nerves hit. I was minus-1 after my first shift (when Tony Amonte scored for Calgary), but I think we turned things around after that. Big win for the boys.
“Whenever I can get the ice, I’ll take it. I just want to fit in and make a positive contribution.”
In addition to Leopold, Wojtek Wolski (mild concussion) and Mark Rycroft (healthy scratch) weren’t in the lineup.
The Duke
Milan Hejduk’s goal against the Flames gave him six in his last six games and 22 for the season. He beat Miikka Kiprusoff with a backhander as he skated across the slot. “I was by myself between two D’s and I tried not to make a mistake on the backhand and went five-hole,” he said.
Is his touch back?
“It feels pretty good,” he said.
Svatos scores
Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville, on Marek Svatos, whose 6:47 of ice time was the lowest of any Colorado skater, but who scored the game-winning goal: “He looked like he was dangerous tonight with the puck, and he had a couple of nice hits. … Goal scorers need to feel good about themselves when it’s their bread-and-butter. Hopefully, he can feed off of this and be confident in all areas of the game.”
