Gabriel Landeskog returned from a lower-body injury for the Colorado Avalanche when they visit the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Landeskog, who was week to week, has 29 points (nine goals, 20 assists) in 47 games this season and seven points (two goals, five assists) in six games since returning from the 2026 Winter Olympics with Team Sweden. The 33-year-old forward and Colorado captain, hasn't played since March 6, when he had an assist in 22:54 of a 5-4 shootout win against the Dallas Stars.
The Avalanche are 36-4-7 with Landeskog in the lineup this season and 9-9-3 without him.
“It’s good to have him back,” coach Jared Bednar said. “We’ve got a lot of these top-six wingers out of the lineup right now. We’ve brought them all with us on the road. They’re all making progress. Landeskog will go tonight and then hopefully we can continue to add guys here on this road trip. But he’ll make a significant difference for us here tonight, and it’s good to see him back healthy and still with some runway to go here before the playoffs.”
Fellow Colorado forwards Artturi Lehkonen, Ross Colton (each upper body) and Logan O'Connor (offseason hip surgery) are with the team for its four-game road trip that will continue at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday and the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday.
Landeskog missed three full regular seasons from 2022-25 because of problems with his right knee and had multiple surgeries including a cartilage transplant May 10, 2023. He was sidelined for 1,032 days between winning the Stanley Cup in Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final on June 26, 2022 and and Game 3 of the 2025 Western Conference First Round on April 23, 2025.
On Jan. 4, he sustained an upper-body injury but recovered in time to play at the Olympics, where he had four points (two goals, two assists) in five games for Sweden, which lost to Team USA in the quarterfinals.
