Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar missed the first two playoff games of his career due to an upper-body injury.
The team hosted the Vegas Golden Knights for Games 1 and 2 of the Western Conference Final at Ball Arena.
The 27-year-old Norris Trophy finalist sat out Wednesday's series opener, which Colorado lost 4-2.
He remained sidelined on Friday despite participating in an optional morning skate and taking practice repetitions with the top power-play unit.
Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar confirmed the defenseman's absence following the morning skate on Friday.
He declined to share further details regarding the rest of the team's lineup changes.
"I'm not going to give you any other lineup decisions," Bednar said. "I'll give you (Makar) is out, that's it."
The coach emphasized that injuries impact every team in the postseason.
He pointed out that Vegas is currently playing without forward Mark Stone, while the Minnesota Wild previously lacked Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin.
"It hurts when you don't have Makar, but every team is going through that," Bednar said. "(The Golden Knights) don't have (forward Mark) Stone.
Stone's an impact player for them. Minnesota didn't have (forward Joel) Eriksson Ek or (defenseman Jonas) Brodin.
We didn't have players.
Our goal is to be the best version of ourselves that we can be tonight, and that's without Cale and so be it.
I still think we are capable of winning a hockey game if we are better than we were the other night."
Bednar noted that he expected his remaining blue-liners to elevate their execution. He specifically mentioned puck management, defensive zone exits, and offensive zone pressure to generate scoring opportunities.
"You have to concentrate on what you need to do in the moment, what your team needs to do," Bednar said.
"The guys that are back in the lineup will have to be better than they were the other night.
It's not like they were terrible, it's just that I think all of those guys are capable of giving us a little bit more, especially on the execution side, helping us create a little more offense, managing the puck, executing with the puck to get us out of our zone and through the neutral zone.
Even in the offensive zone to extend plays. Like I said, they are capable of doing that."
Colorado defensemen Jack Ahcan, Alex Gagne, and Nick Blankenburg were called upon to fill out the bottom pairings.
Defenseman Josh Manson logged 19:02 of ice time during Game 1.
"I don't think when you're playing you can think about it," Manson said. "I think that's just a hindrance.
Going into it, obviously you hope he's playing. I don't think anybody could ever stand up here and say, 'Oh, I hope he's not playing.'
I mean, he's a generational player. So when you're out there, I don't think you want to think about it.
I think you just got to keep playing and doing your best to win the game."
The opposing Vegas Golden Knights entered the third round with an 8-4 playoff record.
They defeated the Utah Mammoth and Anaheim Ducks under a defensively focused system brought by their head coach.
"Listen, Cale is a world-class player, right?" said Vegas forward Jack Eichel.
"But I don't think our approach changes at all. We know the type of impact he has on the game when he is in there."
Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb echoed his teammate's sentiment.
He stated that the defensive protocol remains identical for the Golden Knights regardless of whether Makar is on the ice.
"Obviously a great player," McNabb said. "Probably the best defenseman in the League.
But it doesn't change anything as of now, right? And even if he is in, it's still going to be the same protocol for us."
Makar recorded 79 points in 75 regular-season games this year.
Goaltender Scott Wedgewood started in net for Colorado after securing an 8-1 postseason record for the Avalanche heading into Game 2.
