The Net: Avs goalie breakdown day two

The battle for goaltender supremacy continued today as the Colorado Avalanche took the ice for their second day of training camp. As with yesterday, we’ll look at both goalies vying for the net and pick a winner on the day. We got quite the show today as all of the goaltenders showed out today, not just the two we’re devoting this column to. It was an impressive day for the netminders.

Semyon Varlamov

I gave him the nod yesterday and he must have really liked that because he came out today and upped his game even more. I’ve no doubt he got scored on at some point when I was watching other happenings but I don’t remember seeing him get scored on when I was watching him. He looks as healthy as he’s ever been and his trademark athleticism flashed consistently all morning.

Simply put, Varly had a special day today. He battled against drills that saw heavy traffic in front of him and his puck tracking was top notch. He looked comfortable as he was reading the pucks very well. It’s a testament to his positioning that he didn’t have any particularly amazing saves but he consistently found a way to shut down the offense coming at him.

His glove was rocking and rolling and he was going post-to-post as well as we’ve ever seen him. He was awesome.

Philipp Grubauer

It was another solid day for the man they call ‘Grubi’. The German netminder was solid throughout the day. My favorite stop of his was him stopping a Zadorov slapper with the butt end of his stick. It broke the stick, which frustrated Grubauer, but it was still a great save. Speaking of that stick, his style compared to Varlamov’s is a significant contrast. When traffic forms in his crease, Grubauer is very active with his stick in working pucks away from trouble. Varlamov, on the other hand, is more prone to trying to dive on top of the puck to freeze it.

That contrast really underscores the general difference in their approaches to the game. Varlamov has always been a quick-twitch goaltender who uses his ridiculous reflexes to get where he’s going. Grubauer subscribes more to an economical approach to motion. He’s very methodical in deciding when and where to move. It’s a decisive way to play and he’s very good at it but it’s striking to go from Varlamov’s scrambly nature to Grubauer’s much quieter game.

Grubauer showed some outward fire today as he was not shy about talking to his defenders when they did something to make his job even more difficult than it already is. That communication is going to be key if these goaltenders are going to split time as much as we anticipate they are. He’s already started putting the work in the build that rapport and it’s a great sign.

Today’s winner: Varlamov

It’s two days in a row for the incumbent as he has stepped up his game a ton already in this camp. Varlamov looked fantastic today. While Grubauer had a strong day of his own, he just wasn’t quite as special as his counterpart. It might be tough for Varly to replicate today’s performance.

Camp count: 2-0 Varlamov