WASHINGTON — Another Avalanche player was lost to injury Saturday night, this time defenseman Kyle Quincey.
Quincey, who had been starting to play better, suffered a left shoulder injury after sliding hard into the end-boards in the first period against the Washington Capitals. He was wearing a sling after the game and will be further evaluated and diagnosed today.
Quincey was back-checking on what proved a goal for Washington’s Mike Knuble when he lost his balance and slid into the boards. The Avs technically did not have to play short-handed on defense the rest of the game, however, as coach Joe Sacco dressed seven players on the blue line. Ryan Wilson, a healthy scratch of late, was inserted back into the lineup.
Hejduk update.
The Avalanche seemed optimistic that right wing Milan Hejduk (groin) might not miss too much action. The team’s leading scorer entering the game, Hejduk is listed as day to day with the injury, suffered Friday in Atlanta.
Footnotes.
In his first 14 games with the Avalanche, defenseman Ryan O’Byrne was a plus-8, with 46 hits, 32 blocked shots and two assists, while averaging more than 20 minutes a game. Though O’Byrne was a minus-1 in the win over Washington, he played a very strong game defensively. . . . Wilson had a team-high five hits for Colorado. . . . In his first game against the Avs since being traded, Capitals defenseman Scott Hannan went minus-2 and was on the ice for Paul Stastny’s power-play goal as well. . . . The Avs will take today off. . . . Avs defenseman John-Michael Liles was dinged up some in the game, taking a couple of hard hits, but played to the end despite missing several shifts.
Adrian Dater, The Denver Post
