Rapid Recap: Avalanche 3, Senators 0

Goaltender Philipp Grubauer stopped all 34 shots he faced to earn his second shutout of the year and help the Colorado Avalanche win its fifth-straight game with a 3-0 victory against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday to open a five-game homestand.
Mikko Rantanen found the back of the net with a backhand shot in the final minute of the first period before Valeri Nichushkin scored while on the power play midway through the third frame. Gabriel Landeskog sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 1:05 remaining in the contest.
Nathan MacKinnon recorded two assists to extend his point streak to five games. Andre Burakovsky, Ryan Graves and Samuel Girard also collected a helper each in the outing.
It was the first home game for Colorado since Jan. 20 and the team is now 5-0-2 in its last seven home outings, its longest home point streak of the season.

It was the second and final meeting between the Avs and Sens this year, and Colorado concluded the season series with a 2-0-0 mark.
Statistics
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Photo Gallery
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Highlights
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Notes & Quotes
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Video: Coach Bednar Postgame

THE GOALS

1st Period
19:19 COL (1-0) - Mikko Rantanen danced around a defender with a spin move at the blue line and beat Marcus Hogberg with a backhand shot.
2nd Period
No Scoring
3rd Period
10:26 COL (2-0) - PPG, Andre Burakovsky set up Valeri Nichushkin for a backdoor tap in while on the power play to double the Avs' lead.
18:55 COL (3-0) - ENG, Gabriel Landeskog sent the puck into an empty net to seal the win for Colorado.
Final:Avalanche - 3 | Senators - 0

3 STARS

Selected by Colorado Hockey Coach of the Game: Chase Boswell (Denver Country Club)

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 1 for 5
Ottawa: 0 for 2

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado:Philipp Grubauer earned his second shutout of the year after making 34 saves
Ottawa: Marcus Hogberg stopped 33 of the 35 shots he faced

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Philipp Grubauer made 34 saves to earn his second shutout of the 2019-20 campain and 18th win of the season. His 18 victories this year match his career high that the set in 2018-19.
In his last four appearances, Grubauer has allowed one or fewer goals in each of those games, posting a 4-0-0 record in that span with a 0.75 goals-against average and .974 save percentage.

NOTEBOOK

Mikko Rantanen scored and now has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in eight career games against Ottawa… Rantanen's goal was the eventual game-winner, his fifth of the season which tied him with Andre Burakovsky for the team lead. Rantanen's five game-winners are also a career high, eclipsing his previous best of four in 2018-19... Nathan MacKinnon collected two assists in the game and improved to 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in 14 matchups versus the Senators... MacKinnon extended his point streak to five games. He has two goals and four assists in that span... Andre Burakovsky set a new career high with his 24th assist of the year, besting his previous mark of 23 that he set with the Washington Capitals in 2016-17... Samuel Girard notched an assist for this 28th point of the season, setting a new career high and eclipsing his previous best of 27 points during the 2018-19 campaign... Jared Bednar earned his 136th victory as head coach of the Avalanche, surpassing Marc Crawford for the second-most by an Avalanche head coach since the franchise moved to Denver in 1995. Only Bob Hartley (193) has more wins in that time frame... It was the Avalanche's first home game in just over three weeks (Jan. 20) and the team is now 5-0-2 in its last seven home contests, its longest home point streak of the season... Colorado is now 16-5-3 against Eastern Conference opponents this year... The Avs are 8-1-0 in their last nine games and 8-1-2 in their last 11.

QUOTABLE

Mikko Rantanen on his goal: "I think it was a good breakout first of all. We went up right away to Nate and he got a good touch on me and I tried to just spin off the D-man and he bit there. It gave me some room and this time it went in, so we'll take it. It was a big goal."

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

Ready for battle.

ROSTER REPORT

With Nazem Kadri out with a lower-body injury, Vladislav Kamenev returned to the lineup. He began the game centering the fourth line with Tyson Jost and Matt Nieto … J.T. Compher was in Kadri's previous spot in the middle of the second line, skating between Gabriel Landeskog and Joonas Donskoi, while center Nathan MacKinnon had Andre Burakovsky and Mikko Rantanen on his wings. The final forward combination consisted of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Matt Calvert and Valeri Nichushkin.

INJURY UPDATE

Nazem Kadri is out indefinitely after suffering a lower-body injury on Sunday at the Minnesota Wild. Head coach Jared Bednar said on Tuesday morning that Kadri will be out for multiple weeks… Colin Wilson (lower body) remains out indefinitely while rehabbing from two surgeries he had earlier this season.

UP NEXT

The Avs host the Washington Capitals on Thursday to continue its homestand. It is the final game before Colorado faces the Los Angeles Kings at the U.S. Air Force Academy's Falcon Stadium as part of the 2020 NHL Stadium Series on Saturday. The game time for Thursday's contest at Pepsi Center has been changed to 7:30 p.m. MT, the NHL announced on Tuesday.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on start of the game
Forwards
95 Andre Burakovsky - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 37 J.T. Compher - 72 Joonas Donskoi
13 Valeri Nichushkin - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 11 Matt Calvert
17 Tyson Jost - 81 Vladislav Kamenev - 83 Matt Nieto
Defensemen
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
16 Nikita Zadorov - 28 Ian Cole
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
39 Pavel Francouz