Gabriel Landeskog has amassed 248 regular-season goals in his NHL career, plus another 27 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs

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Saturday’s goal with the Colorado Eagles, Landeskog’s first in the AHL, might be one of his significant, however. Certainly it is his longest in coming. Late in the third period against the Henderson Silver Knights, Landeskog gained net-front position before tipping Calle Rosén’s booming point shot past goaltender Carl Lindbom. That power-play goal with 3:50 to go in regulation helped the Eagles to erase a 3-1 Henderson lead at the second intermission before Matthew Phillips won the game in the shootout for a 4-3 decision and a sweep of the teams’ two-game set.

Landeskog, who also recorded an assist on John Ludvig's third-period goal, earned the game's first star.

It was Landeskog’s first goal in any league since Game 3 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final when he tallied for the Colorado Avalanche, a span of 1,027 days, surgery, setbacks, extensive rehabilitation, and finally a chance to return to the ice. Landeskog, who had missed all of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons had also been out of action until he dressed for the Eagles for the first time in a 2-0 win Friday night. That return for the Avalanche captain continued what has been a hectic week as speculation grew following the announcement this past Wednesday that Landeskog was going to the Eagles on a conditioning assignment.

Friday’s game, streamed without charge, set a FloHockey record with more than 120,000 viewers across multiple platforms. 

With the Avalanche on their way to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the two-game test run with the Eagles has served as an opportunity to gauge how Landeskog’s right knee – the focus of nearly three years of work – would stand up to the demands of game action. After Landeskog felt well enough coming out of Friday’s contest, he opted to play again Saturday night. It marked the first time since March 7-8, 2022 that Landeskog had played on back-to-back nights. It was back in March 2022 that he had surgery before returning for the Avs’ run to the Stanley Cup that spring. He ended up posting 11-11-22 in 20 games on that championship run.

A cartilage transplant for his right knee followed in May 2023, an exceedingly rare procedure for a professional athlete. Now 32 years old, the Avalanche captain and the organization have another key piece of information on how that knee might deal with the rigors of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Landeskog's returned also resonated with his teammates, some of them barely into their pro careers. They awarded Landeskog the team cowboy hat after Friday's win and his teammates on the ice mobbed him after Saturday's goal. The two weekend victories also furthered the Eagles’ lead in their bid to capture the Western Conference regular-season title and gain home-ice advantage through at least the conference finals.

But on a bigger, more symbolic scale, Landeskog is once again back in the goal column.

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