Cale Makar is reported to be OUT for tonight's Game 1 matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights. Both Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette and Emily Kaplan of ESPN reported it this morning as the Avalanche morning skate was underway. Both also stated that Makar was skating this morning, but he missed the last couple of skates leading up to today's. Everyone is being reported to be fine, including Artturi Lehkonen, who missed some time after Game 3 against the Minnesota Wild due to an upper-body injury that caused him to miss the rest of the series. Along with Sam Malinski returning to the lineup, Jack Ahcan will be filling in for Makar. Rawal did report that Head Coach Jared Bednar expects Makar to be back in the series against the Knights and is considered "day-to-day". This follows up on why he was missing from some of the skates and practices leading up to today. This will be Makar's second time missing a playoff game in his career. The only other time he missed was during the 2023 playoffs against the Seattle Kraken, when he served a one-game suspension for an illegal high hit on forward Jared McCann, which caused McCann to miss the rest of the series. Western Conference Final Sets Stage for Golden Knights-Avalanche Bloody War [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/30a1e749-fd68-4587-88f8-5f0fe60c8a07.jpeg] Western Conference Final Sets Stage for Golden Knights-Avalanche Bloody War The NHL’s highest-scoring playoff team now faces the battle-tested Golden Knights in a Western Conference Final loaded with history, star power and Stanley Cup implications. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/colorado-avalanche/latest-news/western-conference-final-sets-stage-for-golden-knights-avalanche-bloody-war]
