NEW YORK — The Avalanche blue line, already struggling with a ream of goals against them in recent games, took another hit Sunday when the team learned defenseman Anton Lindholm suffered a broken jaw in Philadelphia, a source close to the situation said.
Lindholm, a 23-year-old from Sweden, will not play in the Avs’ trip to his home country when they play back-to-back games against the in Stockholm starting Friday.
He will be out indefinitely, the source said.
In the Avs’ 5-4 shootout victory over the Flyers on Saturday night, Lindholm played on the third line with , skating 16 shifts for more than 11 minutes of ice time. And he finished plus-2 with four blocked shots.
But he did not dress Sunday for the Avs’ faceoff with the at Barclays Center. , who sat out Saturday with an illness, replaced Lindholm in the lineup paired with Zadorov.
The Avs played with a proper allotment of 12 forwards after Rocco Grimaldi returned from an illness. Defenseman Andrei Mironov was a healthy scratch.
It was not clear in what sequence Lindolm broke his jaw.
The Avs have allowed 41 goals this season before Sunday’s game, one below the NHL average. But their are skating by largely on the back of goaltender , whose 57 saves on 60 shots Thursday in a victory over Carolina set an Avalanche regular-season record.
Another injury. Forward Blake Comeau was hit behind his left ear with a puck in the first period — on the same sequence that was Duchene’s final appearance on the ice — and was immediately removed from the game.
Comeau was not seriously injured, Bednar said, and will travel with the team to Sweden. J.T. Compher (broken thumb), Tyson Jost (lower body) and Colin Wilson (hip) will also travel with the team to Sweden.
