Colorado Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz of Plzen, Czech Republic was named the National Hockey League’s first star of the week for the week from February 17-23, 2020 on Monday. In four games, Francouz had a record of three wins and one overtime loss, with one shutout and a goals against average of 1.46 and save percentage of .941 according to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post.
Francouz made 96 saves on 102 shots according to Hockey Reference in the four games. He began the week by making 23 saves in 27 shot attempts in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 17. That was followed by 27 saves in 28 shot attempts in a 3-1 Avalanche win over the New York Islanders on February 19, 26 saves in a 1-0 Avalanche shutout win over the Anaheim Ducks on February 21, and 20 saves in 21 shot attempts in a 2-1 Avalanche win over the Los Angeles Kings on February 22.
In 26 games this season, Francouz has a record of 16 wins, five regulation losses and three losses in extra time. He has a goals against average of 2.27, save percentage of .927 and one shutout.
Francouz is the clear number one goaltender at the moment in Colorado. Philipp Grubauer of Rosenheim, Germany was the Avalanche number one goaltender, but got injured in the Stadium Series outdoor game against the Los Angeles Kings at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO on February 15 and is not expected to return anytime soon.
Due to the fact Grubauer got hurt, the Avalanche did make one acquisition at the trade deadline to improve their backup goaltending. They picked up Michael Hutchinson of Barrie, Ontario from the Toronto Maple Leafs for defenseman Calle Rosen of Vaxjo, Sweden. Hutchinson has a record of four wins, nine regulation losses, one loss in extra time, one shutout, a goals against average of 3.66 and a save percentage of .886 with the Maple Leafs in 2019-20.
Colorado currently has a record of 36 wins, 18 regulation losses and seven losses in extra time. At 79 points, they are five points back of the first place St. Louis Blues in the Central Division.
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