Cale Makar out at least 2 games for Avalanche after returning to concussion protocol
Collision with Blues player Saturday followed blindside hit from Penguins' Jeff Carter
Colorado Avalanche defenceman Cale Makar is back in the concussion protocol and will miss the team's weekend's slate of games, head coach Jared Bednar said Tuesday.
Bednar gave the update on his weekly Altitude radio show. Bednar said Makar will miss at least Friday's game at Winnipeg and Saturday's contest against Calgary.
The reigning Norris and Conn Smythe Trophy recipient, Makar was injured in Saturday's game against St. Louis after colliding with Blues forward Alexei Toropchenko.
Saturday marked Makar's first game back after missing four contests with a head injury sustained against Pittsburgh on Feb. 7. Makar took a blindside hit from Pittsburgh's Jeff Carter in that one.
In his first game back after suffering a concussion earlier this month, Cale Makar was forced off the ice following a collision with Alexei Toropchenko. <a href="https://t.co/OBtXKBrfi3">pic.twitter.com/OBtXKBrfi3</a>
—@SportsnetMakar left Saturday's game briefly but returned to the game.
"[Makar's] stick got tangled up high and it gave him a bloody nose," Bednar said Saturday night. "He went off and just got looked at real quick. Checked out the nose and then he was back. So, no real problems coming out of that, which is good."
Bednar said that Cale Makar experienced delayed symptoms after the hit against PIT and again in the Blues game. He was put into protocol and required to sit. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoAvsGo?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoAvsGo</a>
—@AdoHernandez27It's unclear what prompted the team to place Makar in the protocol since then.
Makar has 13 goals and 45 points in 46 games this season.
He has 61 goals and 225 points in 224 NHL regular-season contests since the Avalanche made him the fourth overall pick in 2017.
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