Philipp Grubauer and Andre Burakovsky return to Washington for what they hope will be a happy homecoming Monday when the Avalanche open a rigorous six-game road trip.
Grubauer, in his second season with the Avalanche following his June 22, 2018 trade from the Capitals, is Colorado’s clear-cut No. 1 goalie and playing like it, posting a 3-0-0 record, 2.33 goals-against average and .931 save percentage.
Grubauer will start after sitting as the backup Saturday when Pavel Francouz, in his first NHL start, made 34 saves in the Avalanche’s 3-2 overtime win against Arizona. Grubauer is coming off a 4-2 win against Boston last Thursday when he made 39 saves. He didn’t play in Washington last season but made 26 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Capitals at home.
Burakovsky, who was acquired from Washington this past June 28, has four points (two goals, two assists) in the first four games; he netted the winning goal in each of the past two games.
“I wouldn’t consider myself a hero,… Burakovsky said after his overtime goal against Arizona. “This was a team effort. It wasn’t my prettiest game, but it was nice to get on the board and get the team a win. We stuck with it.…
The Avalanche overcame a 2-0 deficit to beat the Bruins and blew a 2-0 lead against the Coyotes before winning in OT.
“The last two games haven’t been the prettiest, but this team has the character to stick with it and get wins anyway,… Burakovsky said. “We’re going to learn from this and keep going. There’s always going to be games where we need to be more careful with the puck, with puck management, and (Saturday) was one of those nights.…
The Avalanche also will play Pittsburgh, Florida, Tampa Bay, St. Louis and Vegas on the trip. There are three off-days between the St. Louis and Vegas games, so they’ll come home before heading to Las Vegas.
"This is a tough road trip, tough teams all the way through,… coach Jared Bednar said. “But it's good to get out on the road with your team early in the season, especially when we've got as many new guys. We’ll try to build some chemistry, spend some time together.…
The Avalanche have gone 3-7-2 in the past 12 games against Washington.
They traveled Sunday and didn’t skate Monday morning because of the early starting time (5 p.m. ET). J.T. Compher missed the past two games with a lower-body injury and Ian Cole certainly will make his season debut at some point on this trip.
Probable Avalanche lineup:
FORWARDS Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen Joonas Donskoi -- Nazem Kadri -- Andre Burakovsky Matt Nieto -- Tyson Jost -- Colin Wilson Matt Calvert -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Valeri Nichushkin
DEFENSE Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson Nikita Zadorov -- Cale Makar Ryan Graves -- Mark Barberio
GOALIES Philipp Grubauer Pavel Francouz