Avs host Sabres in first test without Landeskog

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The Colorado Avalanche lost much more than a big game in their quest for a playoff spot on Thursday.

The club announced Friday that captain Gabriel Landeskog will miss 4-6 weeks with an upper-body injury. The team's second-leading goal scorer with 33 goals (one behind linemate Nathan MacKinnon) is essentially done for the regular season and could miss the first round of the postseason if the Avalanche were to rally and make the playoffs.

It's a tough blow for a team that has often struggled offensively since early December and it breaks up one of the best lines in the NHL. Colorado has to regroup in a hurry; it faces the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon in Denver.

Both teams are in must-win mode if the playoffs are a possibility. The Sabres (30-28-9, 69 points) enter Friday 10 points off the pace for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference after going 2-7-2 in their last 11. Buffalo has given up at least four goals in eight of those 11 games, including five in a shootout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.

"It's just frustrating," goaltender Carter Hutton, who had 41 saves in the game, told reporters after the loss. "I can't put it into words right now. It seems like Groundhog Day right now. I do my best to try and compete and it's hard not getting wins here."

The Sabres led 4-3 in the third period but couldn't finish off the Blackhawks.

"It's disappointing," Sabres coach Phil Housley said after the game. "These guys are working hard. When they're not getting rewarded, that's the difficult thing. That's the mental thing we're facing right now. We're going to have to just keep digging in."

Wins might be tougher for Colorado (29-27-12, 70 points) now that Landeskog is out. He left the 4-0 loss in Dallas midway through the third period and didn't return after he got tangled up with Stars goaltender Ben Bishop.

"I was right behind him when it happened," Colorado forward Mikko Rantanen, Landeskog's other linemate, said after the game. "I think Bishop kind of tackled him behind the net, and that's where he got hurt."

Landeskog is out but defenseman Nikita Zadorov will play Saturday. Zadorov missed Thursday's game with an upper-body injury suffered in an overtime win over Detroit on Tuesday.

The loss of Landeskog will be felt throughout the lineup and comes a couple of weeks after Matt Nieto was lost, likely for at least the remainder of the regular season, with a lower-body injury.

Colorado coach Jared Bednar said it will be hard to make up for the loss of Landeskog but gives a chance for forwards like Tyson Jost and Alexander Kerfoot to excel.

"It's a huge loss for our team," he told reporters after practice. "That's the second forwards we've lost for the remainder of the regular season. Both are impact guys. It's going to be a great opportunity for some guys.

"We need some guys to step up and elevate their game, Kerfoot and Jost will get more opportunity. We're going to have to fill out by committee. Every time you miss a guy you looking for other guys to possibly step up and do that job. We'll try to rearrange some things and see if we can't find some magic."

The Avalanche will need to find it fast. They are chasing Minnesota, which is four points ahead and in the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, with just 14 games left. And they won't have their captain to lead the chase.

--Field Level Media