Even if the Avalanche extends its series with the Detroit Red Wings beyond Thursday, it will be without regular-season leading scorer Paul Stastny.
Stastny will miss the rest of the series and possibly beyond with a knee injury suffered in the first period of Game 3. It is just the latest in the torrent of bad news to hit the Avs since their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series with the Red Wings started last Thursday.
“I’ve been here a lot of years, and I’ve never seen anything this bad,” Avs winger Milan Hejduk said of the team’s ongoing injury problems. “Guys are just hurt all over the place.”
The Avs, down 3-0 to the Wings in the series, practiced Wednesday without several regulars, including Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Hejduk.
Forsberg may not be able to play in Game 4, either, with recurring groin problems. Coach Joel Quenneville said a determination would be made Thursday morning on his status, and left wing Ryan Smyth (foot) is doubtful to play, Quenneville said.
If Forsberg can’t play, that would mean the Avs would enter Game 4 without its top three left wingers, along with Smyth and Wojtek Wolski, and also one of their top two centers, in Stastny.
Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com
