Grubauer notches 4th shutout, Avalanche beat Kings 2-0
The Avalanche outshot Arizona 46-14 on Wednesday and needed overtime for a 2-1 win.
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Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist, Philipp Grubauer stopped 18 shots for his fourth shutout of the season and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 on Friday night.
Nathan MacKinnon also scored for the Avalanche, who held to recent form by continuing to pile up shots without getting many goals. Colorado had a 45-18 edge in shots.
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The Avalanche outshot Arizona 46-14 on Wednesday and needed overtime for a 2-1 win.
"We talked a lot (Friday) morning that we need to bear down on the goal scoring," Rantanen said. "We got some really good looks. I think it’s confidence too. I think we’re fighting it a little bit now scoring-wise, but we’re playing well. With this team and this talent we know it’s going to come soon."
The Avalanche held their 15th straight opponent to fewer than 30 shots in a game, surpassing the mark set by the Stanley Cup winning team in 2000-01.
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Calvin Petersen made a career high 44 saves for the Kings.
Petersen, activated from the NHL’s COVID-19 list before the game, was sharp in his return. He made 32 saves through the first two periods and had to make several big saves.
"It was a bit of a surprise," Petersen said of being on the COVID-19 list. "I got notified I was being put in protocol and had to wait it out, take it day by day and follow the protocol. By (Friday) morning I was able to get released back. I think it was a false positive. Glad to be back, I’m glad it was handled well and I was able to join the team."
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Rantanen broke through for Colorado midway through the second period when his shot from the point got through a screen by Gabriel Landeskog and beat Petersen at 9:18. It was his 13th goal of the season, which leads the team.
Los Angeles had two power-play chances in the final nine minutes and nearly scored on the second, but couldn’t cash in. Petersen came off in the final two minutes and MacKinnon scored an empty-net goal at 18:37 to seal it.
"When you get a breakaway on the empty net you’re always looking around first of all to see that there’s nobody backchecking on you and you have teammates with you, so it’s a pretty easy decision there just to give it to Nate," MacKinnon said.
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ROSTER SHUFFLING
The Kings juggled their lineup before the game, with defenseman Olli Maata entering the NHL COVID-19 protocol list and was placed on the non-roster list. Alex Iafallo was scratched with an illness, but he was not on the COVID-19 list. Defensemen Tobias Bjonfort and Daniel Brickley, forward Lias Andersson and goalie Troy Grosenick were recalled from the taxi squad.
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Goalie Matt Villalta was put on the taxi squad and goaltender Jonathan Quick was put on the injured list.
"Today was a juggling act," Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. "Someone asked me (Friday) morning if we’re getting back to normalcy or getting close to it, and at that time I knew what was going on. There’s no reason for us not to perform better, though."
UP NEXT
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The teams meet again Sunday afternoon in Denver. The start time was moved up from 6 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. MST due to a snowstorm forecast to drop up to 2 feet in the metro area.