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Burakovsky enjoying career year; Barberio to AHL for conditioning |
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Rick Sadowski
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The Avalanche needed a bounce-back game Tuesday in Buffalo, and they came through with a 6-1 rout of the Sabres in the second game of the five-game road trip.
Philipp Grubauer stopped 23 of 24 shots after he allowed five goals on 27 shots Saturday in the Avalanche’s 6-3 loss in Philadelphia.
The Avalanche have gone 4-1-2 in the past seven games heading into Thursday’s game in Ottawa.
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Some Wednesday news: Defenseman Mark Barberio was sent to the Colorado Eagles on a conditioning assignment. Barberio, who has two assists in 14 games, hasn’t played since Dec. 18 at Chicago.
Defenseman Calle Rosen was recalled to replace him. He has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in 29 games with the Eagles. He previously played eight games with the Avalanche and had two assists.
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Grubauer made some big saves early Tuesday and the Avalanche rewarded him with plenty of offense, led by the second line of Valeri Nichushkin, Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky; the unit combined for three goals and six assists.
Burakovsky had a career-high four points (one goal, three assists), has matched his single-season career best for goals (17) and set a career high for points (39).
Nichushkin had a goal and two assists, Kadri a goal and an assist.
Burakovsky was acquired from Washington on June 28 for minor leaguer Scott Kosmachuk and second- and third-round picks in the 2020 NHL draft. The third-round pick had been acquired from Arizona with defenseman Kevin Connauton on June 25 for Carl Soderberg.
“We have the keys that we need to have a successful line," Burakovsky told reporters. "We've got (Nichushkin), he's like a horse out there, it's tough to get the puck from him. He's working really hard and making plays, and he's having a really good year too.
“(Kadri) is making all the plays, is so good with the puck and finding open lanes and just gives it to us. For me, I'm just trying to give some speed to the line and trying to make plays.”
Cale Makar had an assist, giving him 38 points, a franchise record for a rookie defenseman. He shared the record with Bruce Bell, who had 37 points for the Quebec Nordiques in 1984-85.
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