The Colorado Avalanche have exceptional offensive depth. They are also getting great goaltending to start the 2020-21 National Hockey League regular season. On Thursday at Ball Arena in Denver, CO, Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer of Rosenheim, Germany made 21 saves as the Avalanche defeated the San Jose Sharks 3-0.
Grubauer made seven saves in the first period, six saves in the second period, and eight saves in the third period. Tomas Hertl of Prague, Czech Republic led the Sharks with our shots on goal.
Offensively for the Avalanche, it was a great night for Colorado centre Nazem Kadri of London, Ontario. Kadri was involved in all three Colorado goals as he had two goals and one assist for three points. He also was a +2 and had a game-high 10 shots on goal.
Kadri was one of two Avalanche players with a multi-point game. The other was Brandon Saad of Pittsburgh, PA, who notched two assists. The other Colorado goal scorer was Andre Burakovsky of Klangenfurt, Austria, who plays internationally for Sweden.
This was Grubauer’s third career shutout against the San Jose Sharks. He blanked the Sharks the first time as a member of the Washington Capitals in a 2-0 win on March 10, 2018. Grubauer made 24 saves. He then shutout the Sharks again as a member of the Colorado Avalanche on January 16, 2020. This time Grubauer made 27 saves in a 4-0 win.
Grubauer now has two shutouts this season. His first came in a dominant 8-0 Avalanche win over the St. Louis Blues on a night that Grubauer made 21 saves. Grubauer is currently tied for the NHL lead in shutouts. He is tied alongside Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Petr Mrazek of Ostrava, Czech Republic, Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson of Pittsburgh, PA, and New York Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov of Samara, Russia.
On the season, Grubauer has a record of five wins, two losses, a goals against average of 1.86, and save percentage of .928. Grubauer’s five wins are also tied for the most in the NHL. He is tied alongside Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen of Herning, Denmark.
The Avalanche are currently in a second-place tie with the Minnesota Wild in the West Division. They each have 10 points, and are one point back of the division-leading Vegas Golden Knights, who has 11 points.
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