Bowen Byram will miss his second game in a row when the Avalanche take on the Anaheim Ducks at Ball Arena on Monday in the third game of their six-game homestand.
Coach Jared Bednar didn’t have an update after the morning skate, just said Byram – he didn’t skate – is day to day.
Philipp Grubauer, who’s gone 8-0-1 in his past nine games, needs one win for 100 in his NHL career. He has a 20-7-1 record this season with five shutouts, a 1.73 goals-against average and .930 save percentage.
The Avalanche take an 8-0-2 point streak into the game following their 1-0-1 two-game set with the West Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights.
They can’t afford to have a letdown against the Ducks, who are last in the division but completed a two-game sweep of the St. Louis Blues on Sunday with a 3-2 overtime win.
“It’s a competitive league, you can’t look past anyone,… Bednar said. “Anaheim has given us trouble this year, so we have to be ready to start on time and with them playing yesterday afternoon I think it’s a good opportunity to get going and get our legs (going).
“We’ve had a day and half to rest; I think our guys needed that. We responded after the Minnesota series and now it’s time for us to respond again after this one.…
They are 2-0-2 since sweeping a two-game set with the Wild earlier this month.
The lineup:
FORWARDS Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen Brandon Saad -- Nazem Kadri -- Andre Burakovsky Valeri Nichushkin – Tyson Jost -- Joonas Donskoi J.T. Compher -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Logan O’Connor
DEFENSE Devon Toews -- Cale Makar Jacob MacDonald -- Samuel Girard Ryan Graves -- Dan Renouf GOALIES Philipp Grubauer Jonas Johansson