Philipp Grubauer gets a crack Friday at helping the Avalanche put the brakes on a two-game losing streak when they meet the St. Louis Blues.
The
GAME NOTES.
They’ve lost three of the past four games, the lone win coming Dec. 6 in Florida when Grubauer 33 saves in a 5-2 win against the Panthers.
He relieved
Semyon Varlamov in the past two games, stopping 13 of 15 shots in the Avalanche’s 7-1 loss in Tampa and five of eight shots Tuesday in the 6-4 loss to Edmonton.
Grubauer is 7-0-2 in his past nine starts and 7-2-2 overall with less-than-impressive numbers: a 3.16 goals-against average and .900 save percentage. He was tagged with the loss to the Oilers because of the NHL’s ridiculous method of determining game-winning goals.
Grubauer entered with a 3-0 deficit and the Avalanche never tied the game, but they scored two late meaningless goals in the third period, so the fifth goal he allowed became the decisive goal.
Right wing
Mikko Rantanen has a 12-game point streak with 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists) and leads the league in scoring (52 points) and assists (39).
The Blues won the previous meeting 3-2 in overtime on Nov. 30 in Denver.
Varlamov will start Saturday against Dallas at the Pepsi Center.
The lineup:
Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Tyson Jost – J.T. Compher – Sven Andrighetto
Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Matt Calvert
A.J. Greer – Colin Wilson – Gabriel Bourque
Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson
Ian Cole – Tyson Barrie
Nikita Zadorov – Patrik Nemeth
Philipp Grubauer
Semyon Varlamov
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