Forgotten man Philipp Grubauer knows his day will come again

He has more contract security than the teammate in front of him. His team gave up a pretty good asset to get him. Yet, for the fourth straight game, Philipp Grubauer was slated to be a glorified spectator on Wednesday night as Semyon Varlamov was slated to get another start against the Boston Bruins.

Grubauer, acquired from the Washington Capitals for a second-round pick last summer, has played just one game since Oct. 26. That one game? Didn’t go so well. Seven goals on 37 shots in a 7-6 overtime loss at Vancouver.

After Wednesday’s morning skate at the Pepsi Center, Avs coach Jared Bednar said it’s likely Grubauer will get the start Friday night against the Capitals. That will be his chance to get back on track, to not only get a win but get his saves percentage back over hockey’s version of the Mendoza Line: .900. It currently sits at .893, and in parts of six seasons of previous NHL experience, all with Washington, his saves percentage has never been lower than .915.

Asked by BSN Denver if he’s been surprised at his lack of play recently, Grubauer said:

“No. It’s the same situation every year; you’ve just got to be patient. The focus is on today, and we’ll see what happens against Washington and the game after and the game after.”

About that game in Vancouver:

“It doesn’t matter if you lose in overtime, 7-6 or 3-2 or 2-1. It’s the same result; you still get a point,” Grubauer told BSN Denver. “You can always learn from every game, it doesn’t matter if you win or lose. If you don’t play, you try to help guys out and be ready if they need you. That’s all you can do. Obviously, playing (against Washington) would be a special thing, but really it’s just another game.”

I asked what Grubauer does after allowing a goal. Does he replay it in his mind much? Or does he instantly forget about it? Some goalies will give you different answers on that.

“I try to watch it on the JumboTron, to see what happened, but you’ve got to forget about it,” he said. “If you think about it, while the play is still going, your mind isn’t clear and you put yourself in a tough spot. You’re not gonna save every shot. You’ve got to accept that once in a while a puck is going to go in. You try to watch it on video afterward or the next day and see what happened and make some changes.”

MORNING SKATE NOTEBOOK

• The news seems better on concussed forward J.T. Compher. Out since Oct. 13, Compher skated with the team Wednesday morning, in a non-contact jersey, and Bednar said he may come with the team on its next road trip. Compher has only occasionally skated on his own until Wednesday, not with teammates. He did lots of high-speed hockey drills and seemed in good spirits.
• Mark Barberio will be in the lineup tonight. Patrik Nemeth will be a healthy scratch. The forward lines will be the same as last game.
• Jaroslav Halak will start in goal for the Bruins.