Avalanche’s Valeri Nichushkin out day-to-day with lower-body injury

The Colorado Avalanche will be without Valeri Nichushkin on Thursday versus the Buffalo Sabres as the veteran right winger is sidelined day-to-day due to a lower-body injury, per head coach Jared Bednar.

Facing the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, Nichushkin left late in the second period and did not return. On the season, the Russian-born forward has made 21 appearances in which he has collected 11 goals and six assists for 17 points to rank sixth in team scoring.

Skating in his sixth campaign with the Avalanche, Nichushkin made his season debut in mid-November following his exit from the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. The 29-year-old is coming off his most successful season in which he approached point-per-game production in collecting 28 goals and 25 assists through 54 games. Per PuckPedia, Nichushkin is in the third year of an eight-year pact that carries a $6.125-million annual average value.

Originally chosen 10th overall by the Dallas Stars in the 2013 NHL Draft, Nichushkin has seen 533 career contests split between Dallas and Colorado in which he has amassed 291 points counting 127 goals and 164 assists. Nichushkin signed with the Avalanche in 2019 as an unrestricted free agent and three years later helped the franchise capture its third Stanley Cup championship.

The Avalanche enter Thursday action in the midst of a five-game win streak that has boosted the club to third place in the Central Division with a showing of 23-15-0 and 46 points. Colorado has been particularly dominant since the acquisition of goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood from the San Jose Sharks, who through six showings in Denver has found the win column five times coupled with a .936 save percentage and 1.85 goals-against average. On Friday, the Avalanche inked Blackwood to a five-year extension that carries a $5.25-million annual average value, per PuckPedia.