Philipp Grubauer of Rosenheim, Germany recorded his second career playoff shutout on Wednesday. The eight-year veteran who is in his second season with the Colorado Avalanche, made 14 saves as Colorado defeated the Arizona Coyotes 3-0.
It was quite frankly a dominant performance by the Avalanche defensively, as they limited the Coyotes from generating much of an offensive attack whatsoever. Grubauer only had to make three saves in the first period, four saves in the second period, and seven saves in the third period. The Avalanche, who are the second seed in the Western Conference (behind the Vegas Golden Knights) outshot the Coyotes 40-14.
Grubauer’s first career Stanley Cup playoff shutout came in game four of the second round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He made 32 saves as the Avalanche defeated the San Jose Sharks 3-0. Colorado and San Jose went to seven games a year ago before the Sharks beat the Avalanche in the seventh game of the series by a score of 3-2.
In the regular season, Grubauer had a record of 18 wins, 12 regulation losses, and four losses in extra time. He also had a goals against average of 2.63, save percentage of .916, and two shutouts.
Heading into the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, it was a significant question mark who would be the Colorado goaltender for the postseason. That is because Pavel Francouz of Plzen, Czech Republic also had a fine regular season with a record of 21 wins, seven regulation losses, and four losses in extra time. He also had a goals against average of 2.41, save percentage of .923, and one shutout.
Unlike many coaches in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoff qualifiers, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar picked the right goaltender for game one. At the end of the day, it really should not matter who the Avalanche put in net for the series. They are clearly the more dominant team and should have no problems getting to the second round.
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