The Latest Breaking News from Avalanche

PHILADELPHIA — No captain Gabriel Landeskog, no winger Valeri Nichushkin, no winger Artturi Lehkonen for the reigning Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche, due to injury. That was (almost) no problem for the Flyers, who have been decimated by injuries of their own for the last two seasons.

After 700 days, he was back on the field.

BOSTON — The defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche may not be whole right now with a number of key injuries, but the Bruins can only beat the opponent in front of them. And as usual, they did just that.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Commit one penalty against the Avalanche, and hold your breath. Commit two in succession, and start digging yourself a grave.

Special teams and goalkeeping often saved the Avalanche throughout the month of November. The penalty kill suddenly thrived after its slow start to the season, and Colorado’s league-leading power play was vicious enough to mask occasional 5-on-5 deficiencies.

DENVER — Across the first six weeks of the Stars season, heading into Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Avalanche, it was tough to argue the Stars didn’t get what they deserved.

The Avalanche traveled to Tennessee for Thanksgiving dinner, and that is all.

Friday’s game is postponed, and Saturday’s remains in flux due to the damage.

At the Avalanche’s first practice after a loss to St. Louis last week, coach Jared Bednar responded to a question about potential injuries from that game by half-jokingly commenting that Colorado “made it through one.”

Alexandar Georgiev broke out the same celebration.

WASHINGTON — Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Darcy Kuemper know better than anyone else living in the nation’s capital what Nathan MacKinnon can do with a puck. They were witnesses to his brilliance for one season, the longest season of his career at that. The season he went coast-to-coast for a playoff…