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Grubauer gets the start against Sabres, and the pressure’s on

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NIAGARA FALLS – News: Philipp Grubauer gets the start against the Buffalo Sabres tonight, as the Avs play the second of a five-game road trip that started Saturday with that 6-3 loss to Philly.

Views: The two days off between games, not to mention Jared Bednar’s positive comments about Grubauer when I asked yesterday about his play in the Flyers game (five goals on 27 shots) make this an unsurprising decision. The Avs invested a fair amount of treasure in getting Grubauer from the Washington Capitals, and they are going to turn over every last leaf before giving up on him as a top guy.

Grubauer’s saves percentage is down to .909. That’s below average in the league. This is a big game for him again tonight. Has to have a good one, or he’ll likely be riding the pine, for sure, against Ottawa Thursday. And, maybe it was going to be Pavel Francouz all along against the Senators.

NOTEBOOK

  • Same lines/D pairs as the last game.
  • Joe Sakic was at the Maple Leafs/Panthers game last night. Was he scouting anyone from either of those two teams? Maybe. Or, maybe there was a game an hour or so down the road and he decided to go see it, on an off night.
  • Carter Hutton will start in goal for the Sabres, who are also missing young D-man Rasmus Dahlin. There apparently is a flu bug going around the Sabres’ room too. I think there has been some of that in the Avs’ room too, just based on how some guys’ voices sounded the last couple days. And, your humble correspondent here also has come down with a little sump’n sump’n.
  • I got in late last night to my airbnb here in Niagara Falls ($35 a night!) and watched “Uncut Gems” on the Netflix in the room. I liked it.
  • Hey, you fence-sitters to this site: take advantage of my new sale: six months, $15.99. That gets you full access coverage of the Avalanche here through the playoffs, draft and free agency. This offer will be yanked soon, so here’s your chance to save some and get coverage of the real good stuff to come (hopefully). Hit the subscribe button up top to get the deal.

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