Johnson, Lindholm out indefinitely for Avalanche

CENTENNIAL, Colo. --Defensemen Erik Johnson and Anton Lindholm each is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Monday.
They were injured in a 4-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday. Lindholm left with 3:40 remaining in the second period, and Johnson needed to be helped off the ice at 1:59 of the third.

"I don't have a timeline on it," said Bednar, who said the Avalanche would call up one or two defensemen from San Antonio of the American Hockey League. "The job gets tougher now, but we'll focus on the guys who are in the lineup as much as we can and keep trying to improve with the guys we got.
"It is what it is. We play with the players that we have. Different guys are going to have to step up."
The Avalanche already were without defenseman Mark Barberio, who has missed 10 games with a lower-body injury, and goalie Jonathan Bernier, who sustained a concussion in a 6-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.
None of the injured accompanied the Avalanche for a three-game road trip that begins at the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; SNP, ALT, NHL.TV). Goalie Semyon Varlamov will start and Andrew Hammond, recalled from Belleville of the AHL on Saturday, will be the backup.
The Avalanche (31-23-4, 66 points) are 4-7-1 since a 10-game winning streak and five points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
Johnson, 29, is Colorado's most experienced defenseman and averages 25:43 of ice time per game. He has 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) in 56 games. He's been paired with Nikita Zadorov, 22, who has 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) and averages 18:55.
"Big loss for us," Zadorov said. "He's a huge part of our team. It's probably the toughest time of the year right now. We need points to make the playoffs. It hurts losing that kind of guy, especially for me because I've been playing with him so much. We have to play our best and hopefully good things will happen."
Lindholm, a 23-year-old rookie, has three assists in 43 games. He's been with Tyson Barrie and averages 13:35 per game. Patrik Nemeth and rookies Samuel Girard and Duncan Siemens are the remaining healthy defensemen.

"We have to find some pairs that work and there's going to be some experimenting going on," Bednar said. "You have to build with defending against other teams' top lines, especially on the road. We're going to have a handful of small guys back there and some other guys with not a whole bunch of experience, so we're going to have to try and protect them as best we can."