Denver – Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog He played this moment on Wednesday night in his mind again and again while working his back.
His return was all he also imagined. The beginning, anyway, with all the cheers and that great check early to show, no doubt, that it was up to date in its first NHL game in almost three years.
I just didn’t have the storybook.
Tyler Seguin scored 5:31 in extra time and the stars of Dallas beat Colorado 2-1 in game 3 to spoil Landeskog’s return. Colorado continues 2-1 in the First Round series, with game 4 on Saturday night in Denver.
“We have work to do as a team and that is what we will do,” said Landeskog. “However, he felt great in all areas tonight, in terms of just being back … very special night, regardless of the result and eagerly on Saturday.”
Landeskog started with Nathan Mackinnon and Martin Necas. He played 13 minutes and led the team with six hits. However, his first caused an immediate impression when he hit the stars to striker Mikko Rantanen, who is his good friend and former teammate.
It was a Emotional benefit a The game for Landeskog too. Were the ovations of the crowd and the songs of “Landy, Landy, Landy”. There were signs throughout the sand, including one sustained by their children who said: “Very proud of you dad!”
“That was as close as I could lose it during warming, when I looked that and seeing their big and smiling faces,” Landeskog said about his family. “They have probably been thinking that I have been lying all this time that game hockey.
“They were 1 and 2 when I played for the last time and now they are 5 and 4. They are growing. We have another on the road this summer. It simply puts it in perspective how long it has passed. It is very special.”
The team also showed a video tribute of him, with Landeskog hitting his heart in gratitude.
Landeskog made his first appearance in the NHL since June 26, 2022When he and the avalanche beat Tampa Bay to capture the Stanley Cup. It was set aside due to a chronic wounded right knee.
The gap among its games with the avalanche? About 1,032 days.
He became the fifth player in the history of the NHL, among those with a minimum of 700 games played, to return to his team after 1,000 days or more without a contest, according to NHL statistics. The last to do so was the long -standing avalanche striker and the member of the Fame Forsberg Hall.
The presence of Landeskog in the ice discovered to provide a great impulse not only for his teammates but also for the ability of capacity. Your sweater No. 92 is a frequent view around the sand.
The noise in the building was strong, the energy was electric, until the end.
“Everyone is supporting it. It’s a great return story,” said Avalanche coach Jared Bednar, Wednesday morning. “I trust Gabe’s preparation and what I am seeing with my own eyes that is approaching and ready to play. I think he feels really good about where he is.”
Landeskog’s injury goes back to the “Bubble” 2020 season when it was accidentally cut over the knee by the skate of the teammate Cale Makar in a playoff game against Dallas. Landeskog finally underwent a cartilage transplant procedure on May 10, 2023, and has been in a long -term injured reserve.
It was activated on Monday before game 2 in Dallas and skated in warm -up prior to the game, but did not play.
The Star striker Matt Duchene was a teammate with Landeskog and they are still good friends.
“We have been supporting that I return,” said Duchene, who was the third general selection of Colorado in 2009. “Obviously, it makes our work more difficult to have such a guy, but on the side of friends, the human side and the athlete’s side, I think everyone is happy to see the progress he has made … I am really happy that he has reached this point.”
It does not mean that the stars are calmly with Landeskog.
“It is remarkable for him to return, if he will return, as a friend,” said Rantanen, a 2015 Colorado first round of 2015 before being changed in January to Carolina and Dallas in March. “As an opponent, obviously, there is no mercy.”
The feeling is mutual.
“Regardless of what Jersey uses, I love him. He is a good friend of mine,” Landeskog about Rantanen said. “But in this series, we are not friends when we are playing.”
Landeskog, 32, recently went through a period of conditioning two games with the redo -American eagles of the American Hockey League. He has practiced with the avalanche that leads to his first game in the NHL playoffs.
“It is exciting to have him back in the room and back with us,” Makar said. “I thought he played very well, so I hope he continues that way. It is definitely big to return to the room.”
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