Avalanche overcome deficit after Grubauer relieves Miska in net

The Avalanche were ringing pucks off the post left and right early in Tuesday’s game, plinking at least four off the Anaheim iron in the first period. In and of itself, that wouldn’t have been too much of an issue, but in what was supposed to be a rare night off for overworked Vezina candidate goaltender Philipp Grubauer, backup Hunter Miska allowed four goals in the opening period — on only seven shots.

Colorado punched back to finish the period down only two goals, but there was no way that head coach Jared Bednar could put the overmatched Miska back on the ice.

“We got a bit of unluckiness in the first. We hit a few posts, and it could have been a lot different,” Nazem Kadri said after the game. “We felt like we just had a couple of defensive hiccups that needed to straighten out. We had a little chat in between the first intermission, and came out a lot better.”

They also came out with a new goaltender. Grubauer got exactly one period off on Tuesday, relieving Miska and stopping all 15 shots he faced to allow the Avs’ offense to respond — and they did — swarming for six unanswered goals on the way to an unusual, 8-4 victory.

“I liked the response,” Bednar said. “I thought we played hard for the final 40 minutes. I liked what we were doing offensively in the first period, too, but we have a high standard set for our team, and we want to be a potent offensive team, and we want to make sure that we’re one of the top defending teams in the league, as well. I just didn’t like some of our habits in the first period when it came to defending. I just don’t think that is acceptable. We had a chat after the first and our guys responded.”

Nathan MacKinnon scored his third goal in as many games, though this one had a goaltender guarding the net following empty-netters in the Avs’ previous two outings. Ryan Miller, the Ducks’ 40-year-old netminder, was swamped by a 36-shot Colorado barrage and another outstanding performance from the Avalanche’s second line of Kadri (two goals, two assists), Brandon Saad (one goal, one assist) and Andre Burakovsky (one goal, one assist), who have been more dominant of late than even MacKinnon’s vaunted line, though linemates Mikko Rantanen (one goal, one assist) and Gabriel Landeskog (one assist) had plenty of say in the final score themselves.

While the Avalanche’s four-game winning streak marks their longest of the season, Grubauer badly needs rest. He didn’t get that on Tuesday, but he got the next best thing: six goals in two periods from the NHL’s most explosive offense. It’ll have to do.

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NEXT UP: Avalanche (17-8–2, 36 pts) vs. Wild (18-8–1, 37 pts) | Thursday, Mar. 18 at 7:00 p.m.

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TEAM NOTES

• The Avs look like they’re getting healthier. Forward J.T. Compher and defenseman Bowen Byram, who have both been suffering from upper-body injuries, are expected to return to the ice for Thursday’s game against the Wild. Defenseman Cale Makar, also dealing with the same, vague malady, has been skating without the “no-contact” red jersey in practice, indicating that he may not be far behind his two teammates.

• While it appears that Dan Renouf will be the odd man out when Bowen Byram returns from injury — and likely Greg Pateryn when Cale Makar does later — J.T. Compher’s situation isn’t as cut-and-dried. The Avalanche’s top two lines have been exemplary, and with the solid play of former Denver Pioneer Logan O’Connor on the fourth line, it’s difficult to envision an obvious choice for Compher to replace when he returns.

• The Avalanche’s win over the Ducks on Tuesday was of a kind not seen in more than 33 years. According to Stats Perform (@statsbySTATS), the Avalanche became the first NHL team to allow four or more goals in the first period and still win the game by four or more goals since March 12, 1988, when the Flames allowed four goals in the first, but still beat the Sabres 10-4.

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PLAYER NOTES

• Hunter Miska allowed four goals on only seven shots before being benched after the first period. Miska’s record this season is 1-1-2 with a disastrous 4.16 goals-against average and 83.8 save percentage. It would be genuinely surprising to see Miska start another game for the Avalanche this season.

• Philipp Grubauer entered the game in the second period and shut the Ducks out the rest of the way, stopping all 15 Anaheim shots. Grubauer, the NHL’s First Star last week, has allowed only a single goal in his last 181 minutes and 55 seconds on the ice.

• Samuel Girard scored his fifth goal of the season on Tuesday, tying his career high, with 29 games left to go in the season. Girard now has 21 points, only 13 short of his career-high 34, set last season. Girard, 22, played in 70 games last season (0.49 points per game). He’s played 25 thus far (0.84 points per game) this season.

• Nazem Kadri had four points on Tuesday with a pair of goals and two assists, giving him six points in the last two games. The clutch performer has looked even better in his second season with the Avalanche than he did in his first, and the line he centers with wingers Brandon Saad and Andre Burakovsky have given Colorado a second scoring line that rivals half the league’s top ones.

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THE FINAL WORD

“He’s looked calm and confident. Then it seems like, as the game goes on, it looks like he gets a little nervous and a little jittery. I like him to just be able to kind of get prepared for the game and be confident in his ability to play goal.” — Head coach Jared Bednar, on goaltender Hunter Miska, prior to Tuesday’s game against the Ducks. Miska was pulled from the game after allowing four first-period goals on only seven shots.

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INJURY WATCH

• Conor Timmins (upper-body injury) missed the Mar. 8 game.
• J.T. Compher (upper-body injury) missed the Mar. 6 game and has not played since.
• Bowen Byram (upper-body injury) was placed on injured reserve on Mar. 6.
• Cale Makar (upper-body injury) missed the Feb. 27 game and has not played since.
• Dennis Gilbert (facial injury, COVID-19 protocol) was placed on injured reserve on Feb. 20. He is expected to be out until at least late March.
• Erik Johnson (upper-body injury) left the Jan. 30 game and is week-to-week.
• Pavel Francouz (lower-body injury) has yet to play this season and remains on injured reserve.

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LAST NIGHT’S LINES

FORWARDS:
Top Line: LW Gabriel Landeskog, C Nathan MacKinnon, RW Mikko Rantanen
Second Line: LW Brandon Saad, C Nazem Kadri, RW Andre Burakovsky
Third Line:, LW Valeri Nichushkin, C Tyson Jost, RW Joonas Donskoi
Fourth Line: LW Matt Calvert, C Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, RW Logan O’Connor

DEFENSEMEN:
Top Pair: LD Jacob MacDonald, RD Samuel Girard
Second Pair: LD Ryan Graves, RD Devon Toews
Third Pair: LD Dan Renouf, RD Greg Pateryn

GOALTENDERS:
Starter: Hunter Miska

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