"First reaction, I was real excited," Johansson said Sunday. "It's been a tough 24 hours for me with the travel and getting everything together, but I'm really pumped up, really excited about coming here and being with this good organization."
The 25-year-old goalie is 0-5-1 with a 3.79 goals-against average and .884 save percentage in seven games (five starts) this season.
"I try to take care of my part and give my team a chance to win," Johansson said. "That's really the only thing I can focus on, to play my game as best I can and try and give the team a chance. Sometimes you get a win, sometimes you don't. The only thing I can focus on is giving the team a chance. That's what I've been doing and what I'm going to keep doing."
Johansson provides depth for the Avalanche behind starter Philipp Grubauer. Colorado backup Pavel Francouz (lower body) has not played this season. Grubauer has started 25 games, and rookie Hunter Miska has started five (1-1-2, 4.16 GAA, .838 save percentage).
"We'll look at him here first and make a decision on what our plan is for him," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said after a 6-0 win against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. "From all the things that we've heard, our guys have scouted him and seen him play mostly in the American (Hockey) League in years past. He's been on a steady progression getting better and on a good development path.
"He's a big goalie (6-foot-5, 220 pounds). Started in the ECHL, worked his way to the American League, had one outstanding year (2019-20) … found ways to win hockey games, had real good numbers, and he was kind of rushed into the NHL this year due to some injuries. He's played some games up there (with the Sabres) this year and they've had some trouble."
Selected by Buffalo in the third round (No. 61) of the 2014 NHL Draft, Johansson is 1-8-2 with a 3.40 GAA and .888 save percentage in 13 NHL games (11 starts).
He played six games for the Sabres last season, and was 14-4-3 with a 2.28 GAA, .921 save percentage and two shutouts in 22 games with Rochester of the American Hockey League, earning a selection to the AHL All-Star Game.
"Hopefully he can contribute to our team and really help us out, so we're excited to have him," Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said.
The Avalanche play back-to-back games at the Arizona Coyotes on Monday and Tuesday.
"We're looking forward into getting him in the fold," Bednar said. "We'll get him in here and see what he can do, get him into a couple practices."
NHL.com independent correspondent Rick Sadowski contributed to this report
