Francouz Named NHL First Star of the Week

The NHL named Colorado Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz First Star for the week ending Feb. 23, the league announced Monday.
Francouz, 29, led the Avs to a 3-0-1 record since Feb. 17, helping the team earn seven of a possible eight points in the standings. He boasted a .941 save percentage and 1.46 goals-against average in that span, both the best among all goalies who started at least four games. Francouz signed a two-year contract extension with Colorado on Friday, hours before his first career shutout in the team's 1-0 victory at the Anaheim Ducks.

"He has been an important part of our team this year and has performed really well, especially when we needed it most," said Avalanche executive vice president and general manager Joe Sakic in a release announcing the extension. "He is a hard-working professional, a great teammate and has earned his opportunity in the NHL."
When Colorado goaltender Philipp Grubauer suffered a lower-body injury in the third period of the NHL Stadium Series game against the Los Angeles Kings on Feb. 15, Francouz filled in admirably in tough circumstances. He saved seven of the eight shots he faced despite little time to warm up and acclimate to the cold outdoor conditions at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Francouz started the next game two days later against the Tampa Bay Lightning, making 23 saves. He stopped the Bolts' last nine shots in regulation to allow the Avs to climb back from a 3-1 deficit and force overtime. Tampa Bay went on to prevail 4-3 in the extra minutes.

Francouz then won his next three starts, highlighted by his 26-save shutout at the Ducks on Friday. In the last three games, Francouz owns a .973 save percentage and 0.65 goals-against average. He saved 20 shots in the Avs' 2-1 shootout win in Los Angeles on Saturday, only surrendering a penalty-shot goal in the first period. Francouz denied all three shootout attempts by the Kings..
Colorado's three-game winning streak began against the New York Islanders on Wednesday, where Francouz stopped 27-of-28 shots in a 3-1 win at Pepsi Center.
Overall this year, Francouz has a 16-5-3 record with a .927 save percentage and 2.27 goals-against average while playing in his first full NHL season. The Plzen, Czech Republic, native first signed with the Avs on May 2, 2018 after three seasons in the KHL, where he earned First All-Star Team honors in his last campaign in 2017-18. Prior to his time in the KHL, Francouz played in Czech Extraliga for three seasons and won the league's top goaltender award twice (2012-13 and 2014-15).
This is the fifth time this season that an Avalanche player has been named as one of the NHL's stars of the week. Nathan MacKinnon has earned the honor three times (Nov. 18, Second Star; Dec. 2, First Star; Jan. 6, First Star) while Cale Makar was named Third Star on Nov. 11. Francouz also becomes the first Avs goalie to be named to the weekly stars since Philipp Grubauer was chosen as the Third Star on March 25, 2019, and he is the first netminder to be honored as the week's first star since Semyon Varlamov picked up the accolade for his play from Feb. 18-24, 2019.
New York Rangers center Mike Zibanejad was named the league's Second Star after recording eight points (three goals, five assists) to help the Rangers win three straight games, while Calgary Flames forward Andrew Mangiapane was named Third Star for his six-point week (five goals, one assist).