Philipp Grubauer reached an impressive milestone Monday, becoming the third German goalie to win 100 NHL games.
He joined his idol,
Olie Kolzig (303 wins), and
Thomas Greiss (139) when the Avalanche stretched their point streak to 11 games (9-0-2) with a 5-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks.
Here’s my
NHL.com RECAP of Monday’s win against Anaheim.
“Olie was one of the goalies that I idolized, and when I got to meet him in Washington it was almost like a dream come true,” Grubauer, who began his career with the Capitals, said Tuesday. “You watch him growing up, you watch him make some crazy saves on TV and all of a sudden you’re standing in front of him. He’s like your goalie coach one year so that was incredible.
“Obviously a hundred is nice to get, but the goal here is the Stanley Cup. Maybe it’s just a nice personal goal, I think, but we have bigger goal in mind than that, and that’s the Stanley Cup.”
Despite a shortened 56-game season Grubauer already has set career highs for wins (21) and shutouts (five). He’s played 29 of the Avalanche’s 34 games, starting 28 of them, and owns a 1.74 goals-against average and .929 save percentage. His 11 wins in March are a franchise record for any month.
The lower-body injury that’s prevented
Pavel Francouz from playing obviously has been a factor in Grubauer’s heavy workload, but he’s relishing it.
“It’s good, I like it,” he said. “I feel like we’re playing the right way and we’re getting into a rhythm and moving into the playoffs, so I’m really comfortable with the heavy workload.”
The Avalanche acquired
Jonas Johansson on March 20 from the Buffalo Sabres for a 2021 sixth-round pick in the NHL draft and he made his debut four nights later in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Arizona Coyotes.
He made 28 saves in all after allowing goals on two of the first three shots he faced and was beaten on all three shots in the shootout.
Johansson, who has a 1-8-3 career record with a 3.42 GAA and .887 save percentage, will likely get one or two more chances to see if he can be a dependable backup before the April 12 trade deadline.
His next start probably will come this weekend when the St. Louis Blues visit Ball Arena for back-to-back games Friday and Saturday to finish the Avalanche’s six-game homestand.
“We’re going to go back to Jonas soon,” coach
Jared Bednar said. “I haven’t actually decided on which game just yet. We were discussing it this morning. Grubi’s been playing fantastic, he feels good, he just broke that record for wins in a month for a goaltender and he’s rested, feeling good.
“Obviously we want to make sure we’re scheduling some breaks for him for practices and games, so we’ll be putting Jonas back in soon.”
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Defenseman
Bowen Byram skated Tuesday and is making progress from his upper-body injury, but Bednar said he won’t be an option for Wednesday’s game against the Coyotes.
The Avalanche will welcome fans to the arena starting Wednesday when frontline workers will be permitted to attend.
They’ll allow 4,050 fans beginning Friday after receiving approval from the Colorado Department of Health and Environment.
“It’s going to be really cool,”
Nathan MacKinnon said. “We don’t have many home games left, but the ones that we do have – and the playoffs – it’s going to be fun.”
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