Josh Manson will miss Game 4 with an upper-body injury, forcing the Avalanche into their first lineup change of the postseason as Nick Blankenburg is set to make his playoff debut.
The Colorado Avalanche are being forced into their first injury-driven lineup shakeup of the postseason heading into Sunday’s pivotal Game 4.
Josh Manson, who appeared in 79 regular-season games for Colorado and recorded two assists through the opening three games of the series against the Los Angeles Kings, will be unavailable due to an upper-body injury. Manson exited the bench late in the first period of Game 3 after absorbing a hit along the boards. He briefly attempted to return in the second period for one shift, but immediately left again and did not return.
After practice on Saturday, coach Jared Bednar described Manson as being “sore” and said the team would continue evaluating him on a day-to-day basis.
On Sunday morning, Bednar added that Manson would be “sore for a while.”
With Manson sidelined, trade-deadline addition Nick Blankenburg is expected to make his Stanley Cup Playoff debut. He is the most logical in-house option, as the only other available defenseman on the roster who hasn’t been in the rotation. The 27-year-old played 12 games for Colorado after arriving from the Nashville Predators and grew more comfortable as the season wound down. He finished with three points in those appearances, including two goals over the final four games of the regular season.
The Avalanche will look to complete a four-game sweep of the Kings at Crypto.com Arena. Coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. local time.
