What is adversity if it isn’t what the Avalanche were dealt Wednesday?
Colorado lost starting goalie Philipp Grubauer to the COVID-protocol list a mere hours before puck drop. It was also dealing with a team that had just received its COVID vaccinations and was lacking energy. And newly acquired goaltender Devan Dubnyk was suddenly inserted into the starting role of a game he wasn’t scheduled to play — making his Avalanche debut.
And despite all of these hurdles, and playing the St. Louis Blues on the road, the Avalanche came away with 4-3 victory to snap the Blues’ three-game winning streak.
“As the coach of this team, I was nervous about this one,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “The energy level that our team needs to play the way we want to play is really important. That’s why we’re managing our rest — trying to give our guys as much rest and recovery time as we can between games.”
Dubnyk made 31 saves, including 13 in the third period. Forwards Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, J.T. Compher, Mikko Rantanen and Brandon Saad scored for the Avalanche, who are now 17-1-2 in their past 20 games and 9-1 in their last 10.
The Avs scored three times in the second period to open up a 4-1 lead after the first 20 minutes ended with each team scoring one goal. St. Louis’ Mike Hoffman scored twice in the third period to bring the Blues within 4-3 but Dubnyk was solid in closing out the game for Colorado.
“We had a great second period and you know they’re going to come with a push in the third,” Dubnyk said. “We had some really big plays — big blocks — guys just working. It’s fun to go out there. It’s been a little bit for me for my last win but planning on these coming a little more frequently.”
With Grubauer testing positive for COVID-19, Bednar confirmed that it will likely be 14 days before he returns. Dubnyk, who played the most games in the NHL with Minnesota from 2015-2019, is expected to take on a heavier workload than expected.
“Anybody will tell you that when you start to play games consecutively more and more, you’re going to start feeling better,” Dubnyk said. “I’m excited.”
Colorado’s fourth line got the team started offensively. Despite not having a strong first period, the Avs scored first, as Bellemare received a pass from linemate Liam O’Brien and beat goalie Jordan Binnington to make it 1-0.
The pair assisted on the first goal of the second period from Compher to make it 2-1. Colorado outshot the Blues 14-11 in the middle frame, scoring three times in 8:25.
“Belly and Comphs have been really great to me,” O’Brien said of his line. “I’ve learned a lot from those two in the past couple of weeks here. It’s just been really awesome being on a line with those two guys.”
Carl Soderberg made his debut after being acquired from Chicago at Monday’s trade deadline. Soderberg, who spent four seasons with Colorado after signing a five-year deal in 2015, played on the wing with center Nazem Kadri and winger Andre Burakovsky.
Donning his usual No. 34 jersey, Soderberg played 15:02 and saw time on the penalty kill.
“I know the systems,” Soderberg said of his easy transition into the lineup. “It’s more about the systems that’s harder than newer guys. Kadri is a solid player and Burakovsky can make plays all the time. I felt pretty good.”
