Avalanche star Cale Makar out for Game 2 of Western Conference final

Corey Masisak, The Denver Post on May 22, 2026

Published in Hockey

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DENVER — Cale Makar remains out of the Western Conference final.

Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar confirmed that Makar will miss a second straight contest Friday night when his club faces the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 of this series at Ball Arena.

When Makar missed Game 1, it was his first Stanley Cup Playoffs absence since he was suspended for Game 5 against Seattle in the opening round in 2023. Vegas won that game, 4-2, and the Avs are behind in a series for the first time in this tournament.

“The guys that are in the lineup, like our back end, will have to be better than they were the other night,” Bednar said. “It’s not that they were terrible. It’s just I think all those guys are capable of giving us a little bit more, especially on the execution side of it, helping us create a little more offense, managing the puck and executing with the puck to get us out of our zone, through the neutral zone, even in the offensive zone to extend play.”

A finalist for the Norris for the sixth time in his seven-year NHL career, Makar missed a chunk of the clinching Game 5 against the Minnesota Wild in the second round when he went to the locker room during the third period clearly favoring his right shoulder. He did return late in that period and played in overtime, but was unable to go a week later when this series began Wednesday night.

With Makar out of the lineup and Bednar limiting the playing time of No. 6 option Jack Ahcan, a few Avs defensemen were extended well beyond their regular-season averages. Devon Toews was more than five minutes above his season average, Brett Kulak was four minutes beyond what he averaged after arriving in a trade from Pittsburgh and Sam Malinski logged nearly three minutes more.

“You can’t replace Cale,” Malinski said. “We all know we have to step up and play a little more. I don’t think you need to change the style of play, like I don’t think I need to change the way I play. Just going to have to take on a couple of extra shifts and maybe have to do a little more (penalty killing). I don’t think I need to change the way I play or anything.”

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