Cale Makar out vs. Stars as his wife goes into labor

It started as a mystery at the American Airlines Center morning skate. Nathan MacKinnon was out there and the best defenseman on the planet wasn't.

Corey Masisak

@cmasisak22

Cale Makar is not on the ice this morning for the #Avs at American Airlines Center. Devon Toews is running PP1, Sam Malinski is running PP2.

With a back-to-back on the schedule, the first guess was maintenance. Makar had skated the day before, so nobody was panicking about an injury. Within about 20 minutes the team gave the real reason, and it's the best reason there is to miss a hockey game in October.

Corey Masisak

@cmasisak22

Cale Makar is not here because his wife has gone into labor, a team spokesman said. #Avs are expected to go with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen tonight.

Colorado Hockey Now reports that Makar went back to Denver to be with his wife, Tracy, and that the couple is expecting twins. There was a quick correction on the lineup too. Colorado is not going with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen. It's a normal 12 and 6, with Juulsen stepping into Makar's spot on the blue line.

Even this early, Makar is a big loss. He had 3 goals and 7 points through the Avs' first 5 games, plus 13 shots on net. That's a lot of offense to pull out of a lineup, and it happens on the road against a Central Division rival. The Avs have been scoring at will to start the year, but losing their power-play quarterback at 5-on-5 and with the man advantage is a different test. Toews moves up to PP1 and Sam Malinski runs PP2.

Corey Masisak

@cmasisak22

Jared Bednar said #Avs defense pairs will be: Toews-Malinski Kulak-Juulsen Manson-Burns Also said they're going to wait and see about Cale Makar's availability for tomorrow night back in Denver.

Corey Masisak@cmasisak22

Cale Makar is not here because his wife has gone into labor, a team spokesman said. #Avs are expected to go with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen tonight.

So Jared Bednar's pairs are Toews-Malinski, Kulak-Juulsen and Manson-Burns. That's a sturdy group on paper, but nobody in it drives play the way Makar does. Toews has done this job before, as the guy next to Makar for years. Now he has to be the guy, and Malinski gets a big jump in responsibility on the top pair.

Next up is Wednesday night in Denver, where these 2 teams finish their home-and-home. Bednar says they'll wait and see on Makar, which is the right call. Twins don't follow an NHL schedule, and nobody in Colorado is going to complain if Makar misses one more game to be at home. If he's back for the rematch, he'll have had about the busiest 24 hours of anybody's life. Congrats to the Makars. Juulsen, Toews and company just have to hold the fort in Dallas.