Plenty of Avalanche players have won plenty of awards for the Avalanche since the team arrived in Denver from Quebec in 1995, but no Colorado goalie has ever won the Vezina Trophy.

Not even the great Patrick Roy, who won it three times with the Montreal Canadiens.

Philipp Grubauer could be the first.

“He’s been incredible for us all year,” defenseman Cale Makar, who took home the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year last season, said over the weekend. “I sound like a broken record every time I talk about it, but he deserves it.

"He’s been so good for us, and it just gives us so much confidence, whether it’s being able to make those more high risk plays or just being able to make those passes, knowing that if something does happen, he’s there. He’s been a stud for us this year.”

Here’s the NHL.com RECAP of Monday’s 5-4 win in Minnesota, which ended the Wid’s home winning streak at 11 games.

The Avalanche are first in the West Division with a 26-8-4 record and will take a 15-game points streak (13-0-2) into Wednesday’s game in Minnesota, much of it because of Grubauer's stellar play. They haven't lost in regulation since a 3-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on March 8, the second longest streak in Colorado/Quebec Nordiques history.

The longest is 16 games (12-0-4) set in 2000-01 when the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup.

Grubauer on Monday broke the franchise record for a goalie without a regulation loss – 13 games, going 12-0-1 since that loss to Arizona. Roy (1996-97) and Peter Budaj (2006-07) previously went 12 games without a regulation loss.

He’s played 32 of the Avalanche’s 38 games (starting 31 of them) leads the league in wins (24), goals-against average (1.83), shutouts (five) and is second in save percentage (.926).

Not that he’s thinking about hardware at the moment, not with 18 regular-season games and who knows how many playoff games still to be played.

“I’m just going to keep playing the way I’m playing right now,” Grubauer said Tuesday when the Denver Post’s Mike Chambers asked him about the possibility of winning the Vezina.

“That’s just a personal award that comes along the way, but the bigger goal is the Stanley Cup for sure," Grubauer said. "But playing the way we’re playing -- yesterday was a little bit more interesting than usual -- but if we keep playing that way, I think we see ourselves as having a real good chance here.”

Grubauer is beginning to attract some well-deserved national attention.

"He doesn't get the accolades of some goalies and is hidden by the glut of game-breaking stars on the Avalanche roster, but few goalies have been more sound or dependable than Grubauer, who is the true linchpin of Colorado's success," wrote Shawn P. Roarke, director of editorial for NHL.com.

Couldn’t agree more.

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Not much in the way of news following an optional skate Tuesday; they’re pretty much all optional at this point, with no more than a day off between games the rest of the season.

Defenseman Bowen Byram skated again, but coach Jared Bednar said he wasn’t sure if he would be an option for Wednesday.



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