WASHINGTON — Avalanche star center Nathan MacKinnon traveled here late Monday night after his second consecutive-day negative COVID-19 test and is set to make his season debut Tuesday against the Capitals.
MacKinnon, who missed the first two games of the season because of positive COVID tests, was cleared late Monday. He participated in Tuesday’s morning skate at Capital One Arena.
“Really excited. Not the perfect way to start, but all good. I’m excited to play,” MacKinnon said.
MacKinnon will center the top line with wingers Andre Burakovsky and Mikko Rantanen while Gabe Landeskog completes his two-game suspension for boarding Chicago’s Kirby Dach in last week’s season opener. MacKinnon, who was asymptomatic, watched that game, a 4-2 win, and Saturday’s 5-3 loss to St. Louis from his couch.
“You’re just watching from home. I tested positive for COVID. I didn’t believe them at first. I didn’t feel anything. I was good,” he said. “I was working out the whole time at home, doing what I can to stay in shape. It’s just unfortunate. I didn’t infect anybody in my family. Nobody got sick, no teammates got sick, so that’s lucky.”
The Avs have had three members with positive COVID tests to begin the season. Head coach Jared Bednar missed the opener before he had two consecutive negative tests. And defenseman Jack Johnson missed Saturday’s game but tested negative Saturday and Sunday to allow him to travel with the team Monday morning.
MacKinnon, who didn’t skate for eight days while quarantined, was worried he was going to miss the entire three-game road trip.
“I didn’t think I’d even get two negatives. I thought I’d have to wait the 10 days and miss the first two games of the road trip and probably the third one, too,” he said. “It was my first skate this morning. I’m pumped to play.”
The Avs are 100% vaccinated.
“All of our guys have felt fine even though they’ve tested positive, so obviously, that’s where the vaccination comes in, and it seems like they’re getting back quicker, too, so those are the positives for me,” Bednar said. “We have every guy vaccinated (but almost) everyone now has probably had COVID … We’ve done the antibody tests and everyone seems to be doing great. So hopefully the worst of this COVID stuff is behind us and we’re moving forward to some normalcy to the year. It’s kind of been a rocky start for us.”
Bednar’s lineup on Tuesday features 11 forwards and seven defensemen. The extra defenseman is Kurtis MacDermid and the only healthy scratch is forward Jayson Megna. Defenseman Devon Toews (offseason shoulder surgery) is on the trip but continues to skate in a red non-contact sweater.
Colorado will depart for Fort Lauderdale, Fla., after the game, and take Wednesday off before Thursday’s game at the Florida Panthers. The trip concludes Sunday at Tampa Bay.
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Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon cleared of COVID and set to make season debut at Capitals: “I’m pumped to play” - The Denver Post
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