AIR FORCE ACADEMY — Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer tumbled backward into the ice once the back end of teammate Ian Cole collided late.
Grubauer left the ice with assistance, Colorado switched to Pavel Francouz in net, and the Kings skated off with a 3-1 victory on Saturday night in Falcon Stadium to spoil the home group ’s NHL Stadium Series showcase. And worse, a pesky Avalanche injury bug continues to bite.
“The fact that (Grubauer) left the game tonight informs me that there is definitely a chance he could miss games,” Colorado trainer Jared Bednar stated. “I don’t even know. They were looking at him if we arrived through. I just got word about the bench theyrsquo;ll be checking him out. ”
The game was tied 1-1 in the time of Grubauer’s exit, however don’t even snare the loss solely on his own replacement. Francouz, 13-4-2 with a .925 save percentage this season entering Saturday night, has been not able to get heated up after sitting at subfreezing temperatures on the bench the entire game. Kings ahead Tyler Toffoli recorded a hat trick and scored the go-ahead target on Francouz with over an minute left in the game.
“It’s hard, because (Grubauer’s) been hanging out there for two-plus hours probably by the time he had been in and that he ’s warm out there,” Bednar stated. “He did what he could to help us win. We gave a slot taken that was good up there with a little bit of visitors. We need to perform a much better job of checking that puck. ”
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Added Francouz: “It always helps if you create some stops at the start. You get the impression with the puck. … Unfortunately, we lost with a goal in the last moment, therefore it actually (stinks). We’re sorry for those lovers, and we actually needed to win. ”
Bednar stated he will receive an accident status upgrade for Gruabuer on Sunday. The Avalanche host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday at the Pepsi Center.
“Hopefully, (Grubauer) is not out too long,” Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon said. “Just a frustrating game. ”
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