DENVER — Jared Bednar did not escape unscathed following a frightening moment Saturday night at Ball Arena.

The Colorado Avalanche head coach is officially on the injury report after the team confirmed Sunday morning that he suffered facial fractures to his right cheek along with a corneal abrasion during Colorado’s 3–2 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

It happened early in the third period, a split-second play turning ugly behind the bench. Vegas forward Keegan Kolesar was trying to move the puck up ice while Jack Drury closed in on the forecheck. The puck took an awkward hop, climbed over the glass, and ended up in the Avalanche bench area, where it struck Bednar.

He went down immediately and needed help from team staff as trainers rushed in from the bench area. Bednar was escorted down the tunnel shortly after and did not return for the rest of the game. He was later taken to a local hospital for evaluation.

The scene immediately changed the feel of the night inside the building. What had been a tight, physical game suddenly shifted focus to the Avalanche bench, where players and staff were left trying to process what had just happened.

Colorado was already dealing with adversity in-game. Defenseman Josh Manson had left earlier with an upper-body injury, thinning the blue line at a difficult moment in the contest.

Assistant coaches Nolan Pratt and Dave Hakstol took over behind the bench for the remainder of the night as the Avalanche pushed through the rest of regulation, eventually falling to Vegas.

Bednar will not travel with the team on their upcoming two-game road trip as he continues to recover. The team says he will not require surgery, and early signs are encouraging, with expectations of a full recovery, though no timeline has been set for his return.

For Colorado, the attention now shifts from the result to the health of their head coach—and an uncertain stretch ahead without him behind the bench, with Bednar expected to miss at least two games.