Grubauer Leads Avs to Victory in Vegas as Division Race Tightens

The Colorado Avalanche might not have been at its best as a group, but Philipp Grubauer was solid between the pipes and helped the squad pick up an important two points in the standings on Monday.
Grubauer tied his season high with 36 saves, including 11 during three team penalty kills, to lead the Avs to a 2-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. The win moved the Avalanche (78) within two points of the Knights (80) in the race for the West Division title.
"Personally, it was nice to get that game and get those two points for sure. From a team perspective, I don't think it was one of our best games," Grubauer said postgame. "I think we dialed it up a notch in the last period. Made the right choices, played the right way, but I think the first two were some periods to forget, for sure."
Grubauer picked up his 29th win of the year--the most by an Avalanche netminder since Semyon Varlamov had a franchise record 41 in 2013-14--in an outing that was not typical of how the Avalanche has played this year.

Entering the matchup, Colorado ranked second in the league in shots per game (34.6) and first in shots- gainst per game (25.4), but the Avs were outshot 37-21 on Monday, though the team was still able to pull out the win.
"You are not going to outshoot teams every game and obviously we want to, that's the goal to play our style of hockey," said J.T. Compher, who scored the game-winner. "The first two periods for our standards were not good enough. Even the third was probably not up to our standard, but we were able to squeak one out and that's what it's going to take in the playoffs. It's not going to be easy. It's not going to be we outshoot them 40-20 every night and we get a W. It's going to be different types of games, and we were able to battle that one out tonight."
Colorado's last six contests have all been decided by one goal, and the team has gone 5-1-0 in that stretch. Overall, the Avs are now 17-3-4 in one-goal outings this year and learning to be content playing in these tight matchups can help them in the postseason.

"I think we can't expect to win four or five to one in the playoffs. We are going to run into some tough opponents," said Grubauer. "Every game is probably going to be a tight one, every detail matters. We feel pretty comfortable in those tight games and we have to, and we got to make the right decisions and tonight was a greasy one to finish that road trip. It's been a long month for us, so it's nice to get those points for sure."
The contest was the Avalanche's final away game of the regular season, finishing 17-9-2 (.643) on the road in 2020-21. The outing also closed out the team's longest trek of the year aasa it went 4-1-0 on the five-game road trip.
Colorado now returns home to finish the campaign with a back-to-back against the Los Angeles Kings and there is still a lot up for grabs.
The Avs have a chance to earn the top seed in the division and they could also clinch the Presidents' Trophy as the league's top team in the regular season if they win both of their remaining games. Colorado has played one fewer game than Vegas.
"I think next game is going to be the most important one," said Grubauer. "Obviously great job tonight, but it doesn't matter if we don't win the next one. L.A., they have nothing to lose. We got to find a way to play our game again and get ready for the next two and see who we are going to play [in the playoffs]."

BURKY HITS CENTURY MARK

Andre Burakovsky scored his 100th career goal in the second period, becoming the seventh player from the 2013 draft class to reach the milestone. In 437 NHL games, the Swedish forward has 231 points (100 goals, 131 assists).
The goal extended his point streak to six games, which is his longest of the year and ties his longest run as a member of the Avalanche (Jan. 16-Feb. 6, 2020). During his current streak, which began on May 1, the winger has four goals and five assists for nine points.
"He's been real good coming out of the COVID break, now that's [11] games after that by now and he's been pretty good in all of them," said head coach Jared Bednar. "He's been making a difference on the positive side of things for that whole time. We've been moving him around a little bit in the lineup, playing with different guys, and he's helped spark every line he's been on."
It was his 18th tally of the season, the second most he has had in a single campaign during his NHL tenure. Burakovsky's 18 goals rank fourth on the team and are two shy of his career best that he set last season.

MORE POSTGAME NOTES

The Avs concluded their eight-game season series against Vegas, finishing 4-3-1 against the Golden Knights. The team will finish the season with a winning record against all seven West Division opponents.
The Avalanche played its final away game of the season, finishing 17-9-2 (.643) on the road in 2020-21. Colorado is tied for the fifth-most wins and fourth-most points (36) on the road this season.
The Avs' 49 hits were a season high, and the team's most in a game since Nov. 30, 2015 at the New York Islanders (51).
J.T. Compher potted the game-winning goal, his second game-winner of the season and the 12th of his career.
Alex Newhook notched two assists for his first career multi-point game. He has recorded three points (three assists) and a plus-4 rating in four contests since making his NHL debut on May 5.
Nazem Kadri equaled his career high with seven hits.