Pavel Francouz caps memorable day with first career shutout

Who needs John Gibson?

Fresh off signing a two-year contract that will hopefully keep him in Denver through 2022, Pavel Francouz recorded the first shutout of his NHL career in a 1-0 win over the Anaheim Ducks.

Gibson, for his part, made life as difficult as he could for the Avalanche as he looked much more like the Vezina-caliber goaltender he’s spent most of his career being than the below-average netminder the Ducks have gotten most of this season.

Nobody was victimized more by Gibson tonight than Andre Burakovsky, who had two cross-ice passes on his tape and Gibson got across and made big saves on each of Burakovsky’s golden opportunities.

Nathan MacKinnon’s speed also created a breakaway and another odd-man rush, including one in the final two minutes, but Gibson’s brilliance kept the puck out and kept the Avs from comfortably putting this one away.

The difference in this game ended up being J.T. Compher’s one-timer that blew past a helpless Gibson after Hampus Lindholm made an awful pass up the middle of the ice and was intercepted by Martin Kaut.

Kaut walked in, fired the puck across to Compher, and proceeded to punch Nikita Zadorov in the ensuing goal celebration.

After the game ended with Francouz’s first career shutout, it was only fitting Kaut was the one to deliver Francouz the game puck. Their bromance was the stuff of Eagles legend last year and Avs fans are now getting to enjoy a couple of Czechs enjoying helping the Avalanche to a couple of wins.

The win moved the Avs ahead of Dallas in the Central Division by one point and put them three points behind the St. Louis Blues with two games in hand for the division lead.

GAME TAKEAWAYS

• Might as well rename this Pavel Francouz Day. He gets the new contract and immediately rewards that show of faith from the organization with the first shutout of his career. He made 26 saves and while not many were of the spectacular variety and you could nitpick some of the rebounds he gave up, on a night like tonight, who cares? He was great throughout and continued the strong play he showed two nights ago against the Islanders where he only gave up a 5v6 goal with just over two minutes remaining. Frankie is feeling it right now and with Philipp Grubauer still out, the Avs need him to keep it rolling.
• Not to take anything away from Francouz, the defense in front of him played pretty well for the most part. There were some scrambly moments late in periods two and three, especially, where Francouz bailed out some poor puck management but overall this was a very good defensive effort against a poor offensive club. At 5v5, the Avs outshot the Ducks 26-18, had the scoring chance advantage by an incredible 31-11, and led 14-6 in high-danger chances for. In short, this should not have been a 1-0 game at all. The Avs dominated this one. Gibson kept it close. Francouz kept it clean. That’s a well-earned two points.
• Martin Kaut. My my my. A decent debut two nights ago gave way to a much more memorable second game as he made the play that led to the only goal of the night. He also got schooled hard by Ryan Getzlaf in a “welcome to the NHL, rook” kind of moment but we’ll chalk that up to a learning curve. He played a little over 10 minutes and even got a shift late in the third period with the Avs nursing their one-goal lead. Late-game minutes with a one-goal lead are nothing short of trust minutes from a coaching staff and for Kaut to be getting even one shift like that in his second NHL game says a lot about him. Him going and getting the puck for Francouz after the game was just downright adorable.
• Good for Compher getting that goal. The depth scoring was badly needed as there have been some major February struggles beyond the top line. Good good good.
• Just a quick note that Tyson Jost got more PK time tonight. It went well and the PK was good tonight. Only two opportunities out there but Jost had 1:35 of PKTOI. If he keeps being effective in that role, it would greatly enhance his profile as a bottom-six player. He needs a little diversity since he continues unable to score (hit another post tonight to add to his frustrations) so this is a positive step.
• MacKinnon was a play-driving monster tonight. He and Cale Makar each were robbed of primary assists when Burakovsky was stopped by Gibson but MacKinnon kept it going all three periods. In games he hasn’t scored this year, this was one of his more dominant performances. In the others, he had a tendency to fade as the game went but he was just as active late in the third as ever.
• This is a total nitpick but Colorado’s inability to get the puck out of the defensive zone when the other team has an extra attacker on the ice the last two games has been discouraging. The Islanders pulled their goalie with around three minutes remaining and while the Ducks only managed to get Gibson out with just over one minute left, the Avs never really purposely cleared the puck much in each game. And they certainly didn’t do it with any kind of possession. It’s a small thing but as they continue to try and hone their ability to lock down games, I’d like to see them play a little less passively. But it worked, so maybe I’m an idiot.
• Loved Sam Girard tonight. His game is progressing so nicely right now after his really weird lull in December where he couldn’t stop turning pucks over. He seems to have taken a legitimate step forward overall but he’s still having trouble getting shots through traffic. If he ever masters that, he’s going to be even more of a weapon. Given his young age, it’s fair to believe he’ll get there in time. And man what a player he already is.
• I know there’s always an eye roll or two when a Cup contender goes out at the deadline and gets a bottom-six forward seemingly for the hell of it but Colorado has three injuries at forward and Sheldon Dries and Vlad Kamenev got minutes tonight. It was a disaster of a night for Kamenev and we know he has better so we’ll throw it out the window for now. If the Avs are worried at all about depth and making a deep playoff run, they can’t be one or two injuries from a bottom line that simply doesn’t contribute. The Avs could definitely min-max their forwards there. It’s hard to go four rounds and assume good health, especially given the year Colorado has had.
• In terms of substantive trade talks, Colorado remains in the market for a backup goaltender to help ease Francouz’s workload while Grubauer comes back. Louis Domingue cleared waivers today and would be a viable option if they want to go that route. Waiting for him to clear makes sense versus just claiming him because then they could freely send Domingue to the Eagles when Grubauer got healthy. If they want someone a little more established, it’s going to cost. But it sure looks like they’re serious about making that happen.
• Another trade development for the day is Colorado landing on the list of teams Joe Thornton would approve of a deal to. I know he’s not the player he used to be but this also isn’t like Jarome Iginla in his final year. He’s still a productive player for the Sharks out there and it would help with that center depth that the Avs seem to be looking to shore up. I’ve also heard Erik Haula’s name come up in connection with Colorado’s search for center help. He was one of my deadline adds in our mock podcast last week so naturally, I’m for that idea. It would be an interesting cost, though.