‘He’s a big part’: No immediate update on Cale Makar after loss

Cale Makar was not on the ice for Game 1 of the Western Conference Final — and it was noticeable.

The Colorado Avalanche dropped the series-opener to the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Wednesday at Ball Arena, falling behind early and unable to claw all the way back without their All-World defenseman, whose status was uncertain until Wednesday’s morning skate.

“He’s an important player, right, and he plays a lot, and some of the areas that we struggled with tonight, like those are his strengths,” Jared Bednar said after the game. “He’s out there a lot with the MacKinnon line. There’s definitely a trickle-down effect to that. But he’s not playing, so we have to find a way.”

They didn’t find one on this night.

Dylan Coghlan opened the scoring at 12:29 of the second period, and Pavel Dorofeyev made it 2-0 on the power play less than three minutes later. Brett Howden pushed the lead to 3-0 just 1:34 into the third. Colorado scored twice in the third before Vegas iced it with an empty-netter. But the Avs were never really in control — a first for them this postseason in what was the first game Makar has missed this spring.

The defense was okay, so was the goalie and just about everything else was too. But you need special this time of year.

“We had chances, they didn’t do a whole lot either,” Nathan MacKinnon said. “Was kind of a nothing game. Good team but we did a lot of damage to ourself. Execution needs to be better.”

Scott Wedgewood took the loss with 24 saves on 27 shots, plus the empty-netter.

“He’s a big part. I’m not going to deny that,” Wedgewood said of Makar. “Proud of the guys who stepped up and played a lot more minutes than what they’re used to with what he possesses. You’re going to lose guys every playoff run, and he’s a big part of it. Next-man-up mentality. Proud of the D corps. Wasn’t much there. Just a couple I’d like to have back for them.”

Wednesday’s loss was Colorado’s second of the entire postseason after a first-round sweep of the Los Angeles Kings and a five-game dismissal of the Minnesota Wild. The Avalanche had been 8-1 entering the conference final and had not lost back-to-back games in nearly two months.

Bednar believes that won’t change.

“The guys that we had playing tonight, not just the D, we’re capable of more and capable of better,” Bednar said. “It just wasn’t there for us tonight. We’ll make sure it is for Game 2.”

Wedgewood echoed that.

“Our personnel, what we’ve done all year, bounce right back. We’ll find ways to score,” Wedgewood said. “No real issues with our game. They just capitalized early, and we have to fight back.”

There was no immediate update on Makar’s status for Game 2. He has been dealing with multiple issues since the Wild series. Makar was checked midway through the third period of Game 5 against the Wild a week ago, grabbed his right arm and skated straight to the locker room. He had been grabbing that area and talking to trainers nonstop throughout the game. He returned to ice a few minutes later.

He has also been dealing with a hip issue at times this postseason.

Game 2 is Friday at 6 p.m. MT at Ball Arena.

Jared Bednar gives his thoughts on playing without Cale Makar. Called it a “big loss” but also said “he’s not playing” and some other guys have to be better. pic.twitter.com/F4a2nGEKz1

— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) May 21, 2026

Related

Cale Makar voted NHL’s best defenseman a fifth year in a rowAvalanche name new head coach for AHL affiliate EaglesFive most important Avalanche games during the 2026-27 seasonNHL drops schedule for 2026-27 Avalanche seasonFirst Avalanche game of 2026-27 season announced, it’s in SeptemberAvs make three more depth signings, including forward with 477 NHL games