Avalanche's Ross Colton leaves game against Utah HC with an upper body injury

The Colorado Avalanche announced on social media that forward Ross Colton left Thursday's game against the Utah Hockey Club with an upper-body injury.

It's not clear how the injury occurred, but his last shift was midway through the second period.

Early in the game, Colton scored his seventh goal of the season, a one-timer off a cross-ice pass from Mikko Rantanen that made it 1-0.

The Avalanche would ultimately win the game 5-1, giving them four straight wins.

Colton was one of Colorado's most productive players through the first eight games of the 2024-25 regular season. Including today's goal, the Robbinsville, New Jersey native has seven goals and one assist for eight points.

Now in his fifth NHL season, Colton has 71 goals and 60 assists for 131 points in 278 career regular season games with the Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Colton was drafted by the Lightning in the fourth round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and spent the first five years of his professional career with Tampa's organization, playing two full seasons with the Lightning's AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.

In the 2020/21 season, Colton was called up to the NHL club and scored nine goals and three assists for 12 points in 30 games. That spring, he appeared in 23 playoff games and helped the Lightning win their third Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

After several productive seasons with Tampa Bay, he was traded to the Avalanche in exchange for their second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.

The Avalanche are now 4-4-0 after starting 0-4-0. Their next game is Sunday night at home against the Ottawa Senators. Puck drop takes place at 9:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. MT.