COMPHER SITS AFTER INJURY VS. TORONTO
Avalanche rookie forward J.T. Compher scored the overtime goal to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday but was scratched Sunday against the New York Islanders with an upper-body injury. Compher, who is expected to miss a total of four games, suffered his injury in the third period against the Leafs, before he scored in OT with a wrist shot.
“He was in some discomfort, kind of started getting worse,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said Sunday morning. “Tough guy, finished the game and ends up getting us the OT winner. The next morning he was sore.”
Compher, who missed six games from Oct. 24 to Nov. 5 with a broken thumb, was seen walking into the x-ray room at the Pepsi Center after the Toronto game. He was replaced Sunday by Nail Yakupov, who played right wing with center Alex Kerfoot and Sven Andrighetto.
Rookie mark.
Kerfoot, who graduated from Harvard last spring, is just the fifth Avalanche rookie to score 10 goals before Jan. 1 — joining Nathan MacKinnon (10) in 2013, Matt Duchene (11) in 2009, Wojtek Wolski (12) in 2006 and Marek Svatos (20) in 2005. Compher, who has seven goals, could have joined the club if he didn’t miss seven games to injury.
Footnotes.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Honor Guard was scheduled to present the flag for the national anthem, but because of Sunday’s deadly shooting in Highlands Ranch, it was forced to cancel and replaced by the Colorado Honor Guard Association. … The Avs hosted a New Years Eve game for the fifth consecutive season, and seventh overall. It was the 15th time Colorado has played on New Years Eve, going 7-5-2 in the previous 14. … Backup goalie Jonathan Bernier made his first start in six games for the Avs. …. Rookie defenseman Andrei Mironov, who was recalled from the minor last week after blue-liner Tyson Barrie broke a bone in his hand, replaced fellow rookie Anton Lindholm on the third pairing. … Secondyear man Mikko Rantanen entered Sunday on an eight-game points streak, the longest for an Avalanche player since Ryan O’Reilly had points in eight straight games in 2015.