Nazem Kadri is out for the remainder of the Western Conference Final “at least” after a hit from Evander Kane that Colorado coach Jared Bednar called “the most dangerous play in hockey.”
Kadri, the Avalanche center, left Saturday’s Game 3 after a hit from behind from Kane, the Oilers forward. Kadri was trying to corral the puck, and Kane cross-checked him between the numbers.
“[Kane] puts him in headfirst from behind 8 feet from the boards,” Bednar told reporters after the Avalanche took a 3-0 series lead with a 4-2 victory Saturday in Edmonton. “I’ll leave it at that.”
After the hit, which came just 1:04 into Game 3, Kane was given a five-minute major for boarding. The Avalanche were unable to score on the power play.
Kadri, who had 87 points during the regular season and 14 through Colorado’s first 12 games in the postseason, has been a major contributor. He left the ice and never returned. The Avalanche did not reveal the specifics of his injury, but Bednar said he would be out for this series “if not longer.”
Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said those are the types of hits that “gives you the chills down your spine.”
“You’re taught from a young age that you don’t do that, especially that distance from the boards,” Landeskog told reporters. “I’m the sure [the NHL] will take a look at it.”