Morning skate notebook: Grubauer gets another chance

Hi from the Pepsi Center, where the skittering Avalanche play everyone’s favorite team and uniform, the Minnesota Wild.

It’s hard to believe that the Wild are now ahead of the Avs in the standings, but that is the case. This is as close to a must-win game as you can have for a team in January. Avs have to win this one, period. At least, IMHO.

The lineup news:

Philipp Grubauer gets the start in goal. Ryan Graves gets a start on defense, taking Mark Barberio’s spot. There could be another lineup change by game time, Jared Bednar said, but that seems unlikely.

“I think it’s time to see how he can respond,” Bednar said of Grubauer, who has a 3.29 goals-against average and .895 saves percentage on the season. He’s been good in practice, working hard and hungry for the net. Goaltending has been just…OK. So, we need someone to step up.”

While I agree goaltending has been the biggest problem of late, I’ve also been a bit concerned about the turnovers of late – by all five guys, not just the defense – and the lack of battle in front of the opposing net to score dirty goals. I worry that the Avs are just taking a look at the shot numbers of late and thinking they’re playing real good hockey, that the only thing is the goaltending.

This game is a lot more than just shot totals, for and against. Some of these games of late, in which they’ve had more shots than the opponent, have been because they got in an early hole and the opponent sat back more. That was not the case in the last game, against Nashville, but in others it was.

The Avs just have to go watch the tape of that win in Toronto for how they need to play. Puck support, small gaps, quick, efficient line changes, feet moving. That’s winning hockey.

Devan Dubnyk in goal for the Wild.