The Colorado Avalanche, who are currently battling for their playoff lives in the Western Conference, lost two major pieces to injury on Saturday.  

Starting goalie Semyon Varlamov is out for the season with a lower-body injury while defenceman Erik Johnson has a fractured patella and will be sidelined for six weeks. 

Varlamov, 29, left Friday's game against the Chicago Blackhawks after getting into a collision with forward Tomas Jurco.

The Russian is having a good year, posting a 24-16-6 record with a 2.68 goals-against average and two shutouts. 

The Avs will look to backup Jonathan Bernier to fill the void between the pipes.

Johnson, 30, has nine goals and 16 assists over 62 games with the Avs in 2017-18, his seventh year with the club. 

Colorado is tied with the St. Louis Blues for the second Wild Card spot in the West with 92 points. The Avs have four games remaining on the season while the Blue have five.