Starting Goalie vs. Blues To Be Announced On Game Day

The wait for the Colorado Avalanche's starting goaltender for its first game of the round-robin pool will continue for one more day.

Head coach Jared Bednar held off on naming Pavel Francouz or Philipp Grubauer as the man that will guard the pipes for Colorado's Stanley Cup qualifier opener on Sunday against the St. Louis Blues--though he already knows which keeper will get the first crack in the net, he's just not telling. Everyone outside of the Avs' bubble in Edmonton will have to be patient until game day.

"We'll just determine our starter and who's playing on whatever night as late as we possibly can," Bednar said. "Give our guys some notice that they know how to prepare, and try to make the best decisions to play the rested goalie and the goalie that's playing the best for that particular game."

The Avs' plan during the round-robin set against the Blues, Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knight is to have both Francouz and Grubauer get starts and see action during these contests as Colorado awaits its first-round opponent, which will be decided after the other eight teams in the conference compete in best-of-five series.

In Bednar's mind, the Avalanche will need both goalies if the club wants to go on the long run that its planning on.

"We're not 100 percent sure of our schedule moving forward, and we feel like we're going to need both guys," Bednar said. "It's a luxury to have two guys that you trust and you can count on, and our team has played well in front of both guys all season long."

Grubauer, who began the exhibition on Wednesday against the Minnesota Wild before Francouz entered midway through the second period, started the season as the No. 1 but got sidetracked with injuries twice, including missing the final 13 contests of the regular season.

Francouz started 12 of those last 13 games while Grubauer was on the shelf and posted an 8-2-2 record in those outings--the best mark among any NHL goalie in that time. He ended up finishing the season tied for fifth in the league in save percentage (.923) and ranked seventh in goals-against average (2.41).

The Avalanche players share in their coach's confidence in the squad's two masked men.

"Both guys battle and compete in net and come up with big saves whenever we need them," said forward Matt Nieto. "We're confident with either one of them, doesn't matter who's in the net, and they've been great for us all year so I think they're just going to continue to do that throughout this stretch."

The Avalanche had a full house on the ice at its Saturday practice at Terwillegar Arena, including forward Andre Burakovsky. Burakovsky didn't practice on Friday, but returned to his normal spot on a line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen for the session.

"Everyone was healthy, everyone was on the ice, and we'll make our lineup decisions for tomorrow and let everyone know pregame," said Bednar, giving an update on the team's day.

Samuel Girard practiced for the second straight day as well after missing Tuesday's team session and Wednesday's exhibition, and the defenseman said he'll play in Sunday's game against St. Louis. He'll likely return to the left side of a D-pairing that sees veteran Erik Johnson as the other half.

"I feel good right now," Girard said. "I was back on the ice the next day, so feeling pretty good right now, so I'm going to be ready to go tomorrow."

The Avalanche again split the team into two groups for practice, with the main session featuring most of the players while the second, smaller one compiled mostly of the team's reserves. While the second unit had a little fun with a 3-on-3 game, the main session had a morning skate-type practice to get the club ready for the 4:30 p.m. MT start time on Sunday.

That puck drop can't come soon enough for everyone involved, as it's will be 144 days since the Avalanche last played a meaningful game (March 11 against the New York Rangers). Finally, the team can get back at it.