Landeskog gets 'memory of a lifetime' in long-awaited return for Avalanche

DENVER -- For almost three years he worked and waited for this moment, persisting through pain, surgeries and setbacks. At one point, he struggled to walk up the stairs. At another, he thought about retiring.

Now suddenly here was Gabriel Landeskog, captain of the Colorado Avalanche, coming back from his knee injury in the heat of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“It’s playoffs, so not a whole lot of time to think about what’s going on, how it’s feeling, how long you’ve been gone for,” he said. “It’s just kind of like, get into it and get playing. So, yeah, honestly, it felt pretty good.”

Landeskog looked pretty good too. On an emotional night, in a hard-fought 2-1 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars in Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round at Ball Arena on Wednesday, he led the Avalanche with six hits in 13:16 of ice time.

“I was really happy with the way he played,” coach Jared Bednar said. “He was physical right away, involved right away in a lot of different aspects of our game, and I was pleasantly surprised with the poise he showed with the puck and being able to make plays. It’s happening fast. There’s not a lot of room. But he looked pretty relaxed and made a lot of plays for us tonight.”

The 32-year-old forward had not played in the NHL since June 26, 2022, when the Avalanche defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to win the Stanley Cup.

This was his first NHL game in 1,032 days. According to NHL Stats, he became the fifth player to play at least 700 games and return to his team after an absence of 1,000 days or more, following Jim Peplinski (2,000), Mario Lemieux (1,341), Uwe Krupp (1,036) and Peter Forsberg (1,018).

Landeskog said he had probably played this game in his mind 100 times. He tried to stay calm, focus on the game plan and allow himself to enjoy everything at the same time.

“It’s a very special night, and from my perspective, regardless of the outcome of the game, I mean, that was a memory of a lifetime for me,” he said. “It was very special.”

A video montage before warmup announced, “Tonight marks the return of Gabriel Landeskog.” The fans roared when the video screens showed him leaving the locker room and roared again when he appeared as the first skater on the ice.

“LAND-Y!” the fans chanted. “LAND-Y!”

Landeskog flipped pucks over the glass to his two young children holding a homemade sign: “SO PROUD OF YOU DADDY!” His No. 92 was written inside a red heart.

“That was as close as I got to losing it, during warmup, when I looked over at them and [saw] their big smiling faces, so it was very special,” Landeskog said. “They’ve probably been thinking that I’ve been lying this whole time, that I didn’t play hockey. I really do.

“But yeah, you know, they were 1 and 2 when I last played, and now they’re 5 and 4, and they’re growing up, and we’ve got another one on the way coming this summer. Yeah, it just puts it in perspective how much time has passed, I guess.”

Another video montage declared, “TONIGHT, OUR CAPTAIN RETURNS.” As the Avalanche took the ice for the first period, the fans chanted again.

“LAND-Y! LAND-Y!”

They roared even louder when he was introduced as part of the starting lineup.

“It was amazing,” Landeskog said. “I don’t know. I’m just blessed and very fortunate to be in a position to feel those feelings and to feel … I don’t know really what exactly was going through my body and mind at that time, but it was pretty special. I mean, that’s a memory for life, simple as that.

“Yeah, Avs faithful, they make it special. It’s a special place to play. It’s a special place to live and raise a family. And honestly, the last three years have been difficult at times, and yeah, to come back and feel that love, incredible. Yeah, it means a lot.”

This meant a lot too. Landeskog skated out for the opening face-off with three of his longtime teammates: center Nathan MacKinnon and defensemen Cale Makar and Devon Toews. Actually, it was four. He lined up on the left wing opposite Stars right wing Mikko Rantanen, a former longtime Avalanche teammate. He said Rantanen told him something to the effect of “welcome back.”

“It was great,” MacKinnon said. “Long road, obviously. Very, very amazing. The crowd was amazing. It was cool to be a part of that.”

Landeskog knocked down Rantanen on his first shift, and he banged bodies and drove to the net like the power forward he once was -- like the power forward he still is. He took hits too, and most important, he got back up. He said he felt good physically but had a lot of room for improvement in his play.

“It’s great,” Makar said. “Obviously, he’s been working really hard for the last three years to get back to this point, and it’s exciting to have him back in the room, back with us. I thought he played really well, so hopefully it continues that way.”

Game 4 is here Saturday (9:30 p.m. ET; Victory+, MAX, truTV, TBS, ALT, SN, TVAS). Dallas leads the best-of-7 series 2-1.

“Very special night, regardless of the outcome,” Landeskog said. “And looking forward to Saturday already.”