ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Colorado Avalanche All-Star forward Mikko Rantanen has recovered from an upper-body injury and will play in the team’s first-round playoff series against Calgary.
Game 1 is Thursday night in Calgary.
Rantanen has been sidelined since taking a check into the boards near the team benches at Dallas on March 21. He’s coming off a regular season in which he had career highs of 31 goals and 87 points. The right winger led the team with 16 power-play goals.
Colorado coach Jared Bednar said after practice Wednesday that he expects Rantanen to “play a lot, just like he normally does.”
Rantanen said he feels “really good” heading into the Flames series. He had four assists in six games last season during a first-round playoff loss to Nashville.