Makar injury watch and captain Landeskog: 5 takeaways from the Avalanche preseason doubleheader

Utah’s disastrous travel day only slightly delayed a fun doubleheader of hockey in Denver on Sunday.

The Avalanche took the early game handily, beating the Mammoth by a score of 5-1 at Magness Arena. It was a little closer up the road at Ball Arena, but the Avalanche also took that game by a score of 3-2. Probably a day everyone on the Mammoth would like to forget.

Here are five takeaways from the Denver doubleheader.

If there’s one thing you want to avoid in preseason, it’s injuries. Specifically, injuries to key players. Early in the third period of the early game, Cale Makar took an inadvertent elbow to the face from Samuel Lipkin. From that point on, he took just one shift, and that shift was a short one. He sat on the bench for most of the period before he was finally sent to the locker room late. After the game, head coach Jared Bednar said “I think he’s doing fine. We’ll see tomorrow.” The Avalanche are off on Monday so we won’t get a real update until Tuesday. That means fans will be holding their breath for about 36 hours.How big of a difference is it going to be to have Gabriel Landeskog back this season? A large one, and it’s not all about points with the captain. He did not take kindly to Lipkin elbowing Makar and decided to take matters into his own hands. Or better yet, fists. As soon as Lipkin got out of the box, Landeskog challenged him to a fight and very much got the best of him. The fans loved it and his teammates certainly did. Landeskog said after the game that he didn’t believe it was intentional, but that didn’t matter. “In that moment, I wasn’t thinking about whether it’s preseason or not,” he said. “You see one of your players go down, honestly, it doesn’t matter if it’s our best player or not, someone’s got to do something.” Is it any wonder why teammates love this guy and are elated to have him back? On top of that, he had a pretty nifty assist in the second period.There’s not really a spot on the roster right now for a skilled winger, but Gavin Brindley showed well playing on a line with the captain. He scored two goals in the second period, a nice way to keep the momentum going after a strong rookie tournament. Brindley had a tough first year as a professional in the AHL but there’s clearly talent there. As long as he bounces back this season, he’ll be a call-up option if injuries do arise.Veterans don’t always go all-out in these early preseason games, or any preseason games in general. Martin Necas may not have been going all-out, but he was doing whatever he wanted in the nightcap. He danced through the Mammoth defense to create an Artturi Lehkonen goal in the first, scored one of his own in the second, and assisted on a Brock Nelson goal in the third. He’s an automatic zone entry anytime he gets the puck in the neutral zone. If the Avalanche can’t get a contract extension done before the season starts, his price tag might just keep going up.There’s still a bit of mystery around Mackenzie Blackwood’s injury at the moment. He’s been skating with Colorado’s goalie coach Jussi Parkkila, but he’s not taking any shots yet. If he’s not ready to go by the time the regular season starts, Trent Miner will be backing up Scott Wedgewood. The 24-year-old has been in the Avalanche system for six years and is coming off his best season as a professional with the Eagles. Miner started the nightcap and exited after two periods, stopping 19 of 20 shots. He seems to be trending up as a player and he’ll need to continue doing that if he’s needed in some games early in the season.