The Colorado Avalanche are suddenly facing serious pressure in the Western Conference Final after dropping the first two games against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Colorado has played both games without star defenseman Cale Makar because of an upper-body injury, and the impact of his absence is clearly showing. Following Colorado’s 3-1 loss in Game 2 at Ball Arena, head coach Jared Bednar finally opened up about Makar’s recovery timeline.
Cale Makar’s Status Addressed After Avalanche’s Game 2 Loss
The Avalanche came into the Western Conference Final as strong favorites after finishing the 2025-26 season with the NHL’s best record and winning the Presidents’ Trophy. They also rolled through the opening two playoff rounds, sweeping the Los Angeles Kings before knocking out the Minnesota Wild in five games.
However, the series against the Golden Knights has been a completely different story.
Colorado fell 4-2 in Game 1 without Cale Makar and followed it up with another loss in Game 2, this time by a 3-1 score, digging an 0-2 hole heading into Vegas.
Makar suffered the injury during Game 5 against Minnesota after a late collision left him grabbing his right arm. Although he briefly returned later in the game, Colorado has now been without its star defenseman for the first two games of the conference final.
While Makar participated in the team’s optional skate on Thursday and was on the ice again Friday morning, he was eventually ruled out before Game 2.
After the loss, Bednar made it clear the team wants Makar back as soon as possible, but the final decision belongs to the player. “There’s urgency to get him back since he’s gotten hurt. But it’s gonna be Cale’s decision on when he’s coming back,” Bednar said.
“He’s doing all the work he can possibly do to try to get back as fast as he can. I don’t make that decision for him. But yeah there’s urgency to make sure everyone is in and available and everyone’s playing as well as they possibly can,” he added.
Avalanche Collapse in Third Period of Game 2
For most of Game 2, the Colorado Avalanche looked in control and carried a lead into the third period. Ross Colton opened the scoring at 16:59 of the first period after finishing a rebound created by Brent Burns.
But the Vegas Golden Knights responded in the third, with Jack Eichel tying the game at 9:15 before Ivan Barbashev scored the go-ahead goal just over two minutes later. Barbashev later added an empty-netter at 18:57 to seal the 3-1 win.
“You know you’re running into adversity and you know you’re gonna lose some games in the playoffs… We’re going to try to win one game, right? And it can sound cliche is what it is, but that’s how we approach it. Focus on our process [and] what we need to do,” Bednar said.
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Now down 2-0 in the series, the Colorado Avalanche badly need Cale Makar back in the lineup for Game 3 if they stand any chance of shifting momentum against a surging Vegas Golden Knights squad.
