The Avs were without five regular skaters, including Nathan MacKinnon, in their third straight game against the Minnesota Wild. Missing arguably the best player in the world means having to find a new way to win games.

With a gritty 2-1 win on Tuesday night, the Avs ensure they will get the best of the four-game series against Minnesota regardless of Thursday night’s result in the finale. Depth guys got the goals but it was once again Philipp Grubauer who stood tall in Colorado’s net and stopped 27 of 28 shots.

On the season, Grubauer has only given up 15 goals in nine appearances, seven of which have seen Grubauer give up no more than two goals. It’s been a dominant start for the German netminder and his teammates are taking notice.

“Grubi’s been incredible for us,” Cale Makar said. “He’s the backbone of our team. It gives us a lot of confidence playing in front of him. He plays consistent night in and night out and I think that just allows us to play our games as defensemen and know that he’s going to make those saves when we need him to.”

Grubauer has won seven of nine starts and currently sports a sparkling .934 sv% and 1.67 GAA while tossing in two shutouts already. As the Avs adjust to life without MacKinnon, he’s going to need to continue to play the kind of calm, measured game he did against the Wild.

With the injury to backup Pavel Francouz, Colorado has probably had to ride Grubauer a little more than they originally wanted but he’s responded by showing them he’s capable of being the kind of number 1 goaltender they thought they were getting two years ago when they traded for him from the Washington Capitals.

“I think he’s real confident, real sure of himself right now,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “He’s not giving up a lot of rebounds, he looks real strong down low. Power play situations where they’re bringing it to the net, there was a couple two or three different scrums through the course of the game where they’re bringing pucks and lots of traffic to the net, he’s holding his ground in there. He’s making the big saves when we need it. Again, I thought [it was a] great performance from him.”

Key saves in the first period allowed the Avs to build a 2-0 lead and then as they nursed a 2-1 lead in the third period, Grubauer’s biggest stop came on a Ryan Hartman short-handed breakaway. Once turned away, Grubauer handled the rest of the workload with relative ease and the Avs moved to 2-0-1 in the four-game series.

It was a gritty win for the Avs as they had to muck and grind through much of this one. Both teams absolutely look like squads trying to overcome missing star plays as the Wild navigate life without Marcus Johansson, Kevin Fiala and Matt Dumba. The Avs, on the other hand, are missing MacKinnon, Devon Toews, and Erik Johnson, among others, and have been able to win the ongoing war of attrition so far.

Through three games, the Avs have managed to build a three-point cushion in the standings. If they can push that to five on Thursday, they give themselves a major advantage with just four games against the Wild on the rest of their schedule.

TAKEAWAYS

• Have to love what Makar is doing this season. I’ve already written about it a few times but the guy looks like he’s taken his game to another level. With MacKinnon out, he probably needs to bump it up even more as the Avs lean on their other stars. He’s a special talent and blossoming into a true superstar. Some of the things he did tonight you just do not see from NHL defensemen, even the best of the best. His ability to create offense is just so rare. Whereas you see a guy like Girard succeed at distributing and creating for others, Makar creates scoring chances that cause total defensive breakdowns. He is so impressive.
• I know bagging on J.T. Compher is en vogue right now but I thought he had one of his better games tonight. I liked him sticking up for Makar and thought the extra penalty was nonsense. I thought that line didn’t have a great night but it still could have landed a couple of goals. For one night, anyway, I’m easing off the Compher hate train. He’s being asked to punch out of his weight class and I thought he did an admirable job of it. I saw some folks who didn’t like the penalty he got for defending Makar but I have no problems with it at all. Teams are a brotherhood and
• My real issue from that line was Landeskog. He had a really rough game two nights ago in Minneapolis and followed it up with another really lackluster performance tonight. A lot of turnovers and weak board play is a combination for a mess from a guy who absolutely has to turn his game up without MacKinnon around.
• That fourth line just keeps finding ways to do stuff. Sheldon Dries took a penalty and drew a penalty but Logan O’Connor continues to be a revelation. He’s three for three now in playing this year and having very good games. He’s making a case for his stay in Colorado to be long-term.
• Two rookie defensemen went the other way of what we’ve seen from them so far this year as Byram had a quiet, tough night and Timmins was arguably as confident and solid with the puck as we’ve seen all year.
• Colorado’s third jerseys…still sharp as ever