After missing the first game of the Western Conference Final against the Las Vegas Golden Knights, Canadian Cale Makar remains a doubtful presence for the Avalanche’s second game. The Colorado Avalanche face the Golden Knights at home in the Ball Arena in Denver, this Friday at 8 pm ET.

Makar is currently dealing with an undefined upper-body issue that prevented him from playing in the 4-2 defeat to Las Vegas on Wednesday. Head coach Jared Bednar has expressed confidence that the defenseman could return for Game 2 of the series, although there are no guarantees. According to the coach, Bednar was doing much better on Wednesday morning after his morning skate.

“I think he’s doing a lot better,” Bednar said on Wednesday. “He’s on the ice again this morning, feeling pretty good.”

Cale Makar suffered an upper-body injury during Game 5 of the second-round series against the Minnesota Wild. After absorbing a heavy collision, he was visibly in pain and had to momentarily leave the game, although in the end, he returned to the ice.

The injury aggravated, and Makar was forced to miss three consecutive team practice sessions and was left off the series opener against the Golden Knights.

Jared Bednar and Avalanche players admit they missed Cale Makar

While Makar’s absence wasn’t necessarily the reason for which the Avalanche fell to the Golden Knights, coach Jared Bednar was the first to admit in his post-game press conference that it did affect the team:

“There’s definitely a trickle-down effect to that,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said of not having Makar. “But he’s not playing. We have find a way.”

Fellow Colorado player Logan O’Connor had already predicted that the absence of Makar would weigh heavily on the team, stating the following on Wednesday morning:

“Best defenseman in the world,” Avalanche forward Logan O’Connor said. “He’s not going to be easily replaced. There’s not one guy that’s going to be able to do it. I think the advantage we have with the group we have in the game tonight is a lot of guys can be minute munchers for us.”

The Avalanche are the favorites for Game 2 of the series this Friday night, with odds of -175 according to Fanatics.

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