Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon will be out three weeks after suffering a lower-body injury Saturday against Columbus.

It's been a tough year for MacKinnon so far. He missed the first two games of the season while sitting out in the COVID protocol. And now the injury.

He is tied for the team lead in points with 10, but he has only one goal in eight games and is skating to a minus-3 rating.

For a team that usually goes as MacKinnon goes, his start has shown in the standings. The Avalanche, easily among the favorites to win the Stanley Cup when the season began, are just 4-5-1 with nine points headed into their game Thursday vs. the Canucks.