Gabriel Landeskog thrilled to score, but says it wasn’t about him in must-win game

Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog now has one goal in the 2025 NHL playoffs.

That’s a big deal for a guy who had missed nearly three years of professional hockey.

But in his postgame comments after the Avs beat the Stars 4-0 in a pivotal Game 4, Landeskog made it about the team.

He knows his comeback story is getting a lot of attention, and rightfully so. Down 2-1 in the series to Dallas, the Avalanche couldn’t afford to lose both at Ball Arena.

Luckily, that didn’t happen, and Landeskog’s tally to make it 3-0 felt like the icing on the cake of a monster victory.

The captain stayed humble about 30 minutes after the contest ended in a response talking about what this journey back has been like.

Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog on his mindset ahead of tonight’s “must win” game #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/UwAPInhAaU

— Denver Sports 104.3 (@DenSports1043) April 27, 2025

“This morning I woke up and it’s just no excuses. I don’t want to make this about me missing ‘x’ amount of days or whatever. It’s a huge playoff game for us and must win here at home and I think our team played that way,” Gabriel Landeskog said.

The Avalanche dominated, pounding the Stars and making a statement before a huge Game 5 on Monday night. Still, Landeskog was reflective about what it meant to score.

He wasn’t sure he’d ever do it in the NHL again after his long road through multiple knee surgeries, including a cartilage replacement transplant.

“There was days I didn’t know if I’d score again” – Avalanche captain Gabriel
Landeskog reflective on his first NHL goal in nearly three years.

Hopes there’s more to come. pic.twitter.com/FDpomUahzO

— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) April 27, 2025

Well, Landeskog did score again. And his teammates were happy for him.

Both superstars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar spoke about it, including MacKinnon saying Landeskog is “still good at hockey.” Even after three years off, he was one of the Avalanche’s best players on Saturday night. Landeskog added an assist late on Samuel Girard’s goal to make it 4-0 and end all doubt about the result.

And now that Gabriel Landeskog is checking boxes on his return, this becomes about so much more. That’s to keep stacking victories.

If Colorado takes two of the next three games against Dallas, they’ll be headed to Round 2 of the Western Conference playoffs. Who knows what can happen at that point?

Stay tuned.

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