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Grubauer starts, Varlamov hurt; Barrie close to franchise record

January 2, 2019, 4:23 PM ET [3 Comments]
Rick Sadowski
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Philipp Grubauer starts and Semyon Varlamov is injured again as the Avalanche hit the halfway pole of the season Wednesday, taking on San Jose at the Pepsi Center.

The GAME NOTES.

Coach Jared Bednar said after the morning skate that Varlamov is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. He didn’t say whether it’s the groin or hips or knee, all of which have given the goalie problems at one time or another.

Pavel Francouz will be the backup, a role he might very well move into in the future considering the oft-injured Varlamov is in the final year of his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.

Francouz, 28, was signed as a free agent May 2 and recalled Tuesday from the Colorado Eagles of the AHL.

The Czech Republic native made his NHL debut Dec. 22 at Arizona and stopped 19 of 20 shots in relief of Grubauer; he was tagged with the loss in a 6-4 defeat.

Francouz has posted a 13-7-1 record with the Eagles in 23 games with a 2.65 goals-against average and .919 save percentage. He’s tied for second in wins and is fourth in save percentage in the AHL, his first season in North America. He spent the previous three seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League.

Meanwhile, the Avalanche are 19-13-8 and have lost five games in a row (0-3-2) for the second time this season. They followed an 0-4-1 streak Oct. 27-Nov. 9 with a 9-0-2 run, but have since gone 3-7-3.

They’ll use the same lineup, except for in goal, they did New Year’s Eve in a 3-2 overtime loss to Los Angeles, their second such outcome in a row after climbing back from 2-0 deficits.

"We scratched and clawed our way out of it,” Bednar said. “I don’t think it was easy for us either night. It didn’t seem like we had great energy, great juice. We found a way to get back in those games and take to overtime. Hopefully we come out and play with that fire and intensity right from the get-go tonight.”

Tyson Barrie needs one point to tie John-Michael Liles (275) for the most by a defenseman in franchise history. He has 65 goals and 209 assists in 442 games. Liles had 68 goals and 207 assists in 523 games.

Barrie, now 27, was Colorado’s third-round pick (No. 64) in the 2009 NHL draft. He made his NHL debut Feb. 7, 2012 and is in his sixth season as a regular.

“It is something that’s really cool,” said Barrie, who has 26 points (four goals, 22 assists) in 36 games this season. “I’ve really enjoyed my time here. There have been some ups and downs, some good teams and some not-so-good teams. It was never my goal to try to be the leading defenseman, but I’ve been here a while now and it’ll be pretty cool when it happens, something I’ll appreciate.”

The lineup:

Tyson Jost -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Gabriel Landeskog -- Alexander Kerfoot -- J.T. Compher
Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Matt Calvert
Gabriel Bourque – Sheldon Dries -- Logan O’Connor

Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson
Ian Cole -- Tyson Barrie
Ryan Graves -- Patrik Nemeth

Philipp Grubauer
Pavel Francouz



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