ST. LOUIS — The Avalanche is hopeful all-star right wing Milan Hejduk will not be sidelined for an extended length of time following his jaw injury suffered Saturday night against the Blues.
Hejduk left the game in the first period after taking a hit from Blues forward B.J. Crombeen while playing a puck in the St. Louis zone.
“He’ll be re-evaluated (today) back home,” Avs coach Tony Granato said. “We hope it’s nothing serious.”
Hejduk was not available for comment afterward. Crombeen made a hard charge into him trying to knock him off the puck, coming in from the side.
Avs winger Ian Laperriere took on Crombeen in a second-period fight.
Without Hejduk, Granato had to go with a shortened bench and moved Marek Svatos to Hejduk’s line spot, then went with a collection of different line combinations in a futile attempt to spark some offense.
Kariya surgery.
Former Avs winger Paul Kariya, already out for the season with the Blues because of left-hip surgery, will have surgery on his right hip Tuesday at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Vail.
Kariya hopes for a full recovery and wants to play in the 2009-10 season. He has one year left on his contract.
Footnotes.
The Avs will host their annual “Avs Better Halves” charity event this morning at the Marriott City Center. . . . Despite the Blues being a last-place team, the game was a sellout at 19,250.
