Philipp Grubauer will start in goal again Saturday when the injury-riddled Avalanche try to head into the Christmas break on a positive note against Arizona at the Gila River Arena.
The GAME NOTES.
Semyon Varlamov was scheduled to start, but NHL.com reports he is ill, which is why goalie Pavel Francouz was recalled from the AHL Colorado Eagles, along with forwards Sheldon Dries and A.J. Greer.
Forward Colin Wilson has been placed on injured reserve with an apparent shoulder injury, joining forward Vladislav Kamenev (shoulder) and defenseman Mark Barberio (upper body injury). Defenseman Nikita Zadorov (lower body injury) will miss his second game in a row.
Not that the Coyotes, who have lost three games in a row, have any sympathy for the Avalanche; they have five players on injured reserve.
Grubauer had a second consecutive solid game Friday, though he wasn’t pleased with allowing the tie-breaking goal in the Avalanche’s 2-1 home loss to Chicago.
The Blackhawks broke a 1-1 tie at 1:19 of the third period when Artem Anisimov skated uncontested to the net to tap the puck across the goal line after Patrick Kane’s shot squeaked by Grubauer, who thought he’d smothered it.
“In the end one horrible goal cost us the game,… said Grubauer, who had 26 saves and stopped 61 of 64 shots in his past two starts.
Wilson was injured at 3:36 of the third period when he fell over Blackhawks forward Andreas Martinsen, who lost an edge and tumbled to the ice. Wilson landed hard on his shoulder and was helped off the ice.
Bednar said after the game that Wilson was being evaluated, but that his status was week to week.
Wilson was playing right wing on the second line with Alexander Kerfoot and J.T. Compher. The Avalanche didn’t have a morning skate, but Sven Andrighetto could move up again to take his spot.
"That's kind of been the story of us trying to put that line together,… Bednar said. “We lost Kerfoot (for four games), now we lose Wilson. Hopefully the other guys will step up and carry some of the load, but we're going to miss him for sure. He’s been a consistent player for us and fills in a lot of different spots for us.…
Except for Compher, who drove to the net to convert Kerfoot’s pass in the second period, the Avalanche couldn’t solve Collin Delia, who had 35 saves in his season debut after being recalled from the minors on Monday.
Chicago blanked the Avalanche’s top line of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and NHL leading scorer Mikko Rantanen. They combined for 13 of the team’s 36 shots, with MacKinnon leading the way with eight shots.
Counting shots on goal, shots that missed the net and were blocked, the Avalanche attempted 74 shots to the Blackhawks’ 41.
The Avalanche went 0-for-5 on power plays and are 1-for-14 in the past three games.
Possible lineup:
Gabriel Landeskog—Nathan MacKinnon—Mikko Rantanen Alexander Kerfoot – J.T. Compher – Sven Andrighetto Matt Nieto—Carl Soderberg—Matt Calvert A.J. Greer -- Tyson Jost – Gabriel Bourque
Samuel Girard—Erik Johnson Ian Cole – Tyson Barrie Anton Lindholm – Patrik Nemeth
Philipp Grubauer Pavel Francouz