The Avalanche defenseman was disciplined for interference against Kraken forward Jared McCann during a 3-2 overtime loss at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle in Game 4 on Monday.
The incident occurred behind the Avalanche net at 8:24 of the first period. McCann, who led the Kraken with 70 points (40 goals, 30 assists) in 79 games in the regular season, had just been stopped on a short-handed breakaway and was skating into the corner after the puck went into the netting when Makar hit him into the boards.
"What I saw live and what I watched after the period on video is a late hit, where puck is out of play," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. "(McCann) shoots that puck. It goes immediately out of play, straight up into the netting, and I don't know how many feet or whatever, I don't really care about that. I believe the puck is being caught by a fan as (McCann) is being run into the end wall.
"So late hit, really late, no puck in play, our 40-goal scorer not available for the rest of the game, and like I said, not going to be available going forward here."
Makar originally was assessed a major penalty, but it was changed to a minor for interference after video review while McCann was being helped off the ice.
"I know he got the shot off and then I was just assuming he was going to the corner because it was coming down, so I didn't really look and then just didn't ... just unfortunate how it all happened," Makar said.
Makar, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2022, has three points (one goal, two assists) in four games this series.
With the series tied 2-2, the defending Stanley Cup champion Avalanche already are without captain
Gabriel Landeskog
, who hasn't played all season after having knee surgery in October, and forward Valeri Nichushkin, who has missed the past two games due to personal reasons.
