TAMPA, Fla. — Avalanche coach Patrick Roy on Friday said that winger Borna Rendulic suffered a broken leg against Florida on Thursday night.
Rendulic, 22, the Croatian NHL rookie who previously had played in Finland, was wearing a boot/cast-type device on his lower leg and left foot as the Avalanche practiced Friday afternoon at Amalie Arena, where Colorado will face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
Rendulic played only 1:54 in the first period against the Panthers on a line with John Mitchell and Dennis Everberg before suffering what initially was said to be a foot injury. That left the Avalanche with only 11 forwards for the rest of the 4-2 victory over the Panthers.
“He has a fractured leg and he will be out for at least eight weeks,” Roy said of Rendulic after the Tampa practice. He added, “I saw it happen in the first along the board. I think the guy (a Panther) pushed on his leg and (he) lost his edge and that’s what happened.”
Rendulic has one goal and one assist in 11 games for Colorado in two stints this season. He was recalled for the second time from Lake Erie on Dec. 31 and became the first Croatian-born player to score an NHL goal, against Philadelphia that night.
“It’s sad, but I guess it’s part of the game,” Roy said of the injury. “We were excited about making them the third line for us. The couple of shifts they had together, there was size, there was speed. I really would love to see that happening because I thought it would be a great experience for these guys.”
Roy said the Avalanche wouldn’t recall a forward from Lake Erie. Colorado has been carrying one extra forward, including through some coinciding promotions and demotions, and veteran Marc-Andre Cliche was the healthy scratch among the forwards against Florida.
Roy said the first response would be to move Cody McLeod from the fourth line to the third line to play with Mitchell and Everberg, and to put Cliche on the fourth line with Max Talbot and Daniel Briere.
“Right now we have no reason to call up somebody,” Roy said. “I think (Cliche) will play and we have 21 guys. We’re fine. We’ll see how the game goes (Saturday) night and we’ll make more decisions after.”
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or
