Gabriel Landeskog is finally back on the ice — and he’s making his presence known. Last night, he dropped the gloves against Charles-Édouard D’Astous and was ready to go again against Emil Lilleberg, but couldn’t — for a hilarious reason.
After three years away, Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog has finally made his regular-season comeback. While he hasn’t been lighting up the scoresheet — with four assists in 14 games — he’s certainly been noticeable for his trademark physical play.
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Defeated Tampa Bay
The Avalanche currently sit atop the Western Conference standings and have firmly established themselves as Stanley Cup contenders. Last night, they defeated the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning 3–2, with Victor Olofsson scoring twice — his fifth goal in as many games.
Gabriel Landeskog first fight since 2022
But the big talking point was Landeskog’s throwdown with Lightning defenseman Charles-Édouard D’Astous — his first regular-season fight since March 3, 2022.
“I don’t remember it being that hard to fight,” Landeskog told the NHL on TNT studio afterward.
“When you fight at the end of a shift, it’s probably not the smartest thing to do, so I was pretty tired. I needed the whole five minutes in the penalty box to rest up.”
Almost dropped the gloves again
That didn’t stop Landeskog from nearly going again — emphasis on nearly. With a few minutes left in the third period, he and Lightning defenseman Emil Lilleberg came close to dropping the gloves. But the language barrier proved to be too much.
“He was speaking Danish, and I started in English. I wasn’t quite sure which language we were going with, so I switched to Swedish,” Landeskog laughed. “It wasn’t the most productive conversation.”
The exchange had the TV studio in stitches.
You can watch the interview below.
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