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DENVER — Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog was in the lineup and will play his first NHL game in nearly three years Wednesday night against the Dallas Stars.
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He strongly hinted he was suiting up for Game 3 in a video posted by the team on social media about an hour before puck drop. Landeskog said, “I’ll have my jersey on tonight. Excited to be part of the guys.”
About two hours before the game, the team also posted a picture of Landeskog’s jersey hanging in his locker. This is Landeskog’s first NHL appearance since June 26, 2022, when he and the Avalanche beat Tampa Bay to capture the Stanley Cup. He’s been sidelined because of a chronically injured right knee.
It’s his first game with the Avalanche in 1,032 days. He becomes the fifth player in NHL history — among those with a minimum of 700 games played — to return to his team after 1,000 or more days without a contest, according to NHL Stats. The last one to do so was longtime Avalanche forward and Hall of Famer Peter Forsberg.
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Leading into the game, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar was non-committal on Landeskog’s availability, saying only, “well see.” Asked what criteria he would use in making a determination, Bednar simply responded: “Gut feeling.”
Colorado’s first-round series with Dallas is tied at 1.
Landeskog’s presence on the ice figures to provide a big boost not only for his teammates but the capacity crowd. His No. 92 sweater is a frequent sight around the arena.
“Everyone is rooting for him. It’s a great comeback story,” Bednar said after morning skate. “I trust in Gabe’s preparation, and what I’m seeing with my own eyes that he’s getting close and ready to play. I think he feels really good about where he’s at.
“Adding him back into our locker room, he’s almost an extension of the coaching staff, but he’s still one of the guys and the guy that everyone looks up to. You can’t get enough of that this time of the year.”
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Landeskog’s injury goes back to the 2020 “bubble” season when he was accidentally sliced above the knee by the skate of teammate Cale Makar in a playoff game against Dallas. Landeskog eventually underwent a cartilage transplant procedure on May 10, 2023, and has been on long-term injured reserve.
He was activated Monday before Game 2 in Dallas and skated in pregame warmups, but didn’t play.
Stars forward Matt Duchene was teammates with Landeskog and they remain good friends.
“We’ve been rooting for him to come back,” said Duchene, who was the third overall pick by Colorado in 2009. “Obviously, it makes our job harder having a guy like that out there, but on the friends side, the human side and the fellow athlete side, I think everyone’s happy to see the progress he’s made. … I’m just really happy that he’s gotten to this point.”
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It doesn’t mean the Stars will take it easy on Landeskog.
“It’s remarkable he’s coming back, if he’s coming back, as a friend,” said longtime teammate Mikko Rantanen, a 2015 first-round pick by Colorado before being traded in January to Carolina and on to Dallas in March. “As an opponent, obviously, no mercy.”
The 32-year-old Landeskog recently went through a two-game conditioning stint with the American Hockey League’s Colorado Eagles. He’s practised with the Avalanche leading up to their opener in the NHL playoffs.
“He’s looking good so we’ll see where things go,” Makar said said Wednesday before the game. “For him, I know it’s going to be a huge night when he does play. It’s going to be really exciting for us to have him back in the room and have the captain back.”
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