DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche has returned to the ice for practice, and all signs point to him being back in the lineup for Game 1 of a first-round series against the St. Louis Blues. The difficult-to-defend forward has missed four of the last five games with a lower-body injury. But coach Jared Bednar expects MacKinnon and forward Brandon Saad to be ready to go Monday night for the start of their best-of-seven series at Ball Arena. The top-seeded Avalanche went 5-3 against the Blues this season. St. Louis forward David Perron was added to the league’s COVID-19 protocol list.
Also on NHL ice:
— The Stanley Cup playoffs have begun with an overtime game in Washington. The Capitals squandered a pair of one-goal leads before Nic Dowd scored 4:41 into OT to complete their 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins. Tom Wilson and Brenden Dillon also scored for the Caps, who finished the game with Craig Anderson in goal after Vitek Vanecek (VEE’-tehk VAN’-eh-chehk) was injured early in the game. Anderson finished with 21 saves on 22 shots. Jake DeBrusk and Nick Ritchie tallied for the Bruins, who will try to even the series on Monday. Meanwhile, the North Division regular-season schedule drones on due to games postponed by COVID-19 concerns. The Oilers capped their regular-season slate with a 4-1 loss to the Canucks. Edmonton captain Connor McDavid assisted on Adam Larson’s goal to finish the season with an NHL-leading 105 points. Matthew Highmore scored twice for the Canucks, who have three games remaining against Calgary and with no chance for either team to win a playoff berth.
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