Philipp Grubauer backstops a tired Avalanche team to another victory

Tonight’s game featured:

• A scrum in front of the Colorado net that resulted in an on-ice call of no goal, which was reviewed for several minutes and determined that it was a good goal for Arizona despite no camera angles showing the puck ever crossing the net
• That goal was immediately challenged by Colorado for goaltender interference, which was granted and the goal taken off the board
• A hole in one of the nets required repair at the start of the second period. Thank goodness for some handy zip ties!
• A stoppage in play as the puck disappeared into Joonas Donskoi’s pants. Donskoi had no idea and responded by spinning around several times in confusion
• Mikko Rantanen breaking his stick and soccer kicking a puck out of the defensive zone while falling down
• Jacob MacDonald took a puck to the face and left the game for a while as he got repairs and returned with a cage, then later switched to the bubble

Needless to say, it was a weird night at Ball Arena. Maybe the weirdest part of the entire evening was the Arizona Coyotes actually outplaying the Avs for the first time all season. It only took until their eighth and final meeting of the year for the Coyotes to tilt the ice against Colorado and keep it there.

Granted, it didn’t ultimately matter as the Avs won 4-2 anyway behind a great performance from Philipp Grubauer, who was starting in his first game since the fiasco against Minnesota last week that saw him give up seven goals.

It was obvious in that blowout last week that Grubauer was spent and he needed some time off to recharge. Enter Jonas Johansson, who gave up just one goal in two starts in Anaheim that allowed Grubauer to relax and just do his thing.

The impact of that rest was clear as the Avs clearly were feeling the effects of their own fatigue on the second night of a back-to-back. This was a perfect playing out of Colorado’s strategy in starting Johansson in both Anaheim games and giving Grubauer the extra day of rest yesterday.

In case the Avs faltered and needed their goaltender to bail them out, they had Grubauer. They needed him and he stepped up in arguably the most lopsided game against the Avs in terms of shot share. Colorado got rocked, getting outshot 37-20. Grubauer gave up just two goals, making 35 saves and being referred to by his teammates as their best player all season.

It’s hard to argue with them, despite the presence of two of the NHL’s top 10 scorers in Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, who by the way combined for three of Colorado’s four goals tonight.

And, to me anyway, this was still Grubauer’s night. He responded the way you wanted him to after the embarrassment in Minnesota. Short memory, great game, got the win when his team needed it. This was the makeup of a guy you’re committed to riding to a Stanley Cup.

While Grubauer can only truly prove that in the postseason, he has checked every box imaginable so far during this regular season that says Colorado’s continued faith in him is not misplaced. He’s their guy and he’s here to prove Joe Sakic & Co. right.

TAKEAWAYS

• Not going to make too much of another iffy Colorado showing because it was the second night of a back-to-back against an absolutely desperate Arizona team who is watching their playoff hopes slowly slip away. The Avs need a better effort in St. Louis, though, because that team suddenly lurks as a real monster if they’ve truly found their game. If the Avs do not want anything to do with the Blues in round 1, they have as much control over that as anybody. If they can handle the Blues like they have basically all other season series, they can go a long way toward keeping the Blues from the postseason. That would set them up against Arizona, a matchup they are obviously very comfortable with.
• 6-1-1 against the Coyotes, 6-1-1 against the Ducks…might this be the season the Avs finally kick down the “play down to their competition” stigma that every single fan base attaches to their favorite team? Still a lot of games against Los Angeles and San Jose but the Avs have secured series wins against Arizona, Anaheim, and Minnesota (5-2-1) already.
• I think the reinforcements are getting to Colorado just in time. Bowen Byram’s COVID bout really is the thing that hurts them the most right now because getting him back up to speed next to Patrik Nemeth would give the bottom of Colorado’s defense a major jolt. Jacob MacDonald was back tonight and while certainly better than Kyle Burroughs, the shine has really come off him in the last few weeks. To me, he’s Colorado’s clear-cut 7th D in the postseason if Nemeth and Byram are available. Beyond that, the Keaton Middleton experiment should be permanently over. Between Dan Renouf, Dennis Gilbert, and oh yeah, Conor Timmins, those guys should all be getting ice time ahead of Middleton. Hell, give it to Burroughs. The tough guy with no skill archetype isn’t what made Colorado’s defense special to begin with so watching them try to force it right now is legitimately baffling. Their defense was elite when they played to their identity. Now they’re getting cute and tinkering and wasting time on guys who don’t belong (Liam O’Brien at forward is the same story). Nemeth and Soderberg should at least help push the guys obviously in over their head back off the ice.
• It was a great day hanging out on trade deadline with everyone who chilled on YouTube with us and everyone who stuck around for the postgame chat. Loved the interaction and spending time with the community. It’s been a long couple of days so we’re all planning to take tomorrow off. I’m sleeping in and you can’t stop me!
• PS Cale Makar is absolutely building back up his Norris Trophy case. He’s already up to 8th in D scoring (tied with a few players). If he can get into the top three, he’s going to make it very hard to keep him from that conversation, even with the games missed.