DENVER — Winnipeg defenseman Brenden Dillon will miss Game 4 on Sunday against Colorado with a laceration on his hand that required stitches.
Dillon was apparently cut by a skate blade during a scrum after the final horn of Colorado’s 6-2 win on Friday in the first-round playoff series. Dillon skated toward the locker room holding his bleeding hand. There was blood on the ice and on the back of Avalanche forward Brandon Duhaime’s jersey.
The Jets are hoping Dillon will be available for Game 5 on Tuesday in Winnipeg. They trail the series 2-1.
“Fortunately, there is no damage at all,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said of Dillon’s hand injury. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of stitches holding it together, so our doctors are a little hesitant to put him back in this quick. If you asked him, he’d play. He’d just tape the whole hand up and play. He has that much desire.”
Dillon had eight goals and 12 assists in 77 games during the regular season. He has three assists in this series.
In Dillon’s place, the Jets will go with Logan Stanley.
“Dillon gives us a physical presence back there. So does Logan,” Bowness said.
Winnipeg also is planning to use forward Axel Jonsson-Fjallby in place of David Gustafsson.
“We’re just trying to put a little more speed in our lineup,” Bowness said. “This is a very fast team we’re playing against.”
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