CENTENNIAL — It took a little more than half the season, but Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer finally got his first shutout Thursday night.
After battling through a lower-body injury on and off during the opening months, Grubauer reasserted his position as the team’s first option in goal with a 27-save effort in the Avs’ 4-0 win over San Jose. It was just Colorado’s fifth win in its last 15 games, but it was a promising showing for Grubauer, who is 13-10-4 with a 2.81 goals-against average and .911 save percentage.
“I look at his positioning and I want to make sure that they’re battling when there’s traffic in front of the net,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said after practice Friday.