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Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar is back in the concussion protocol and will miss the team’s weekend’s slate of games, coach Jared Bednar said Tuesday.

Bednar gave the update on his weekly Altitude radio show. Bednar said Makar will miss at least Friday’s game at Winnipeg and Saturday’s home game vs. Calgary.

The reigning Norris and Conn Smythe Trophy recipient, Makar was injured in Saturday’s game against St. Louis after colliding with Blues forward Alexei Toropchenko.

Saturday marked Makar’s first game back after missing four contests with a head injury sustained against Pittsburgh on Feb. 7. Makar took a blindside hit from Pittsburgh’s Jeff Carter in that one.

Makar left Saturday’s game briefly but returned to the game.

“(Makar’s) stick got tangled up high and it gave him a bloody nose,” Bednar said Saturday night. “He went off and just got looked at real quick. Checked out the nose and then he was back. So no real problems coming out of that, which is good.”

It’s unclear what prompted the team to place Makar in the protocol since then.

Makar has 45 points (13 goals, 32 assists) in 46 games this season.

He has 225 points (61 goals, 164 assists) in 224 career games since being selected by the Avalanche with the fourth overall pick of the 2017 NHL Draft.

–Field Level Media