Grubauer helps Avalanche defeat Coyotes, extend winning streak to seven

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves to help the Colorado Avalanche win their seventh straight game, 5-1 against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Monday.

Joonas Donskoi scored two goals, and Tyson Jost and Valeri Nichushkin each had two assists for the Avalanche (20-8-2), who have the longest current winning streak in the NHL. They are 9-1-1 in their past 11 games.
"I think we're pretty controlled, we are understanding the way we have to play to win games," Avalanche forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said. "We're not thinking too highly of ourselves, we are assessing ourselves after every game and we are hungry to play better."
Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored his first goal of the season, and Antti Raanta made 30 saves for the Coyotes (13-14-5), who have won once in their past seven games (1-4-2).
"They have a lot of depth, they come at you in waves," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. "You're trying to find guys to go out there with them and have some energy, but their depth just really took over."
Colorado and Arizona will play the second game of the back-to-back set here Tuesday.
The Avalanche, coming off a 7-1-1 homestand, took a 2-0 lead in the first period by scoring twice in a span of 1:06.
Bellemare scored from the low slot off Matt Calvert's backhand pass from behind the net for a 1-0 lead at 14:22.
"We got a little bit more engaged there," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "The Bellemare line started it out, and we went through our lines a couple of times and we ended up getting rewarded with back-to-back goals."

Mikko Rantanen's wrist shot from the top of the left face-off circle off a pass from Nathan MacKinnon on a counterattack made it 2-0 at 15:28.
"I thought we were going toe-to-toe with them, but they've got some firepower and they can turn the game at the flick of a switch," Coyotes forward Hudson Fasching said. "You're playing really well with them, and then they get two quick [goals] and it's hard to bounce back from that."
Rantanen leads the Avalanche with 18 goals and has 11 points (six goals, five assists) during a six-game point streak. He leads the NHL with 10 goals in March. MacKinnon has 10 points (four goals, six assists) during his six-game streak.
"I don't go into the game thinking about how I have to score. Usually it doesn't happen if you think about it that way," Rantanen said. "I try to play the right way, and now we're getting bounces -- myself and as a team, too -- but I think we earned it."
Nazem Kadri redirected Andre Burakovsky's shot for a 3-0 lead at 11:44 of the second after Coyotes forward Christian Fischer blocked a Jacob MacDonald shot, only to have the puck rebound to Burakovsky.
Ekman-Larsson scored on the power play at 16:19 of the third to bring the Coyotes within 3-1.
Donskoi scored twice in the final 2:32, into an empty net at 17:28 to make it 4-1, and with 11 seconds remaining for the 5-1 final. Donskoi has eight points (four goals, four assists) during a five-game point streak.
"I was just trying to get out of the way [of Jost's shot]. I didn't want to block it, so it just hit my skate and went in," Donskoi said of his second goal. "I didn't want to steal a goal from `Josty' there."

Grubauer's 19 wins this season are an NHL career high. He had 18 in each of the past two seasons.
"He's been great all year, really solid," Rantanen said. "For a winger, it's nice to know you don't have to block every point shot, you can just let it go through and he's always in a good position and making key saves for us. He keeps us in the game when we're down and, when we're up, he doesn't give up anything."
NOTES:Coyotes defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson (upper body) didn't play the third period. Tocchet didn't have an update. … Coyotes defenseman Alex Goligoski played his 900th NHL game. … Ekman-Larsson's goal was his first during the regular season since March 4, 2020, against the Vancouver Canucks. He scored once in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season. … Colorado has outscored its opponents 32-8 in its streak. … Grubauer, playing his 200th NHL game, won his seventh straight. … Bednar won his 165th game to tie Marc Crawford for third in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history behind Michel Bergeron (265) and Bob Hartley (193). Bednar is 165-144-37 in five seasons. … Colorado has scored in each of its past 17 periods.