DENVER — Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen remains in concussion protocol and missed Colorado’s 7-4 loss Sunday night to the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars.
It ended his streak of consecutive games at 161, which was the longest on the team. Rantanen’s absence is a blow for the Avalanche, who trail the Stars by five points with four games remaining. The 27-year-old Finnish forward has 40 goals and 62 assists this season.
Rantanen left Friday’s 6-2 loss in Edmonton after taking a hit from Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm along the boards in the second period. Colorado coach Jared Bednar said Rantanen skated on his own Sunday. He’s listed as day-to-day.
“It’s always tough,” Avalanche forward Jonathan Drouin said. “He’s one of our top players. Hopefully he gets healthy soon, but you can’t really replace a guy like Mikko.”
Colorado was also without forward Miles Wood because of a lower-body injury. He is day-to-day, Bednar said Sunday after morning skate.
The Avalanche added depth up front at the trade deadline by acquiring Casey Mittelstadt, Brandon Duhaime and Yakov Trenin.
“When you’re playing top teams, you have to have depth,” Bednar said. “We’ve got good depth on our team. … The key for us is getting healthy and getting everyone in.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
