In news that’s sure to raise eyebrows across the league, the Colorado Avalanche announced captain Gabriel Landeskog will be held out of Monday’s game against Edmonton with head and neck injuries.
The eyebrow-raising part?
The injuries stem from a hit by Sharks defenseman Brad Stuart during Saturday’s loss in San Jose.
Landeskog left the ice immediately after the collision, but -- in what will be scrutinized given today’s developments -- returned to the game three minutes into the second period.
The 19-year-old ended up playing 16:23 all told.
Stuart wasn’t penalized for the hit and didn’t face any supplemental discipline from the NHL.
He defended his actions to CSNBayArea.com’s Kevin Kurz, saying "[if] you take those hits out of the game, you change the game.”
Landeskog also defended the hit.
“I haven’t seen [the replay] but I think it was a clean hit, or felt like a clean hit,” he said. “No elbow, but it was hard, I’ll tell you that much. I was kind of reaching for the puck and didn’t brace myself enough and he stepped up.
“That’s the way with hockey, you give some and you take some, and tonight I took a pretty big one.”
Conversely, Avs head coach Joe Sacco didn’t like the hit, telling Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston it was “a direct blow to the head.”