Rapid Recap: Avalanche 3, Coyotes 0 (Game 1)

Nazem Kadri, J.T. Compher and Mikko Rantanen all scored in a 1:23 span in the third period and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Arizona Coyotes 3-0 on Wednesday in the first game of their Round 1 matchup at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.
Philipp Grubauer stopped all 14 shots he faced to record his second career playoff shutout. Colorado outshot Arizona 40-14 overall, setting a new franchise record for the fewest shots against in a playoff game.
Kadri and Compher's tallies were 10 seconds apart, three seconds shy of the franchise record for the fastest two goals in a postseason game (seven seconds), a mark set in Game 3 of the 1996 Western Conference Finals (Adam Foote & Adam Deadmarsh). Kadri's goal stood as the game-winner, his second of the postseason.
Nathan MacKinnon had two assists in the game while forwards Joonas Donskoi and Gabriel Landeskog and defensemen Cale Makar and Erik Johnson collected a helper a piece in the win.

The Avalanche has a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 2 is set for Friday at 12 p.m. MT at Rogers Place.
Photo Gallery
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Highlights
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Statistics
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Postgame Notes
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Video: Coach Bednar
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Video: Compher & Kadri
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Video: Grubauer, Johnson & Rantanen
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Rapid Recap

THE GOALS

1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
No Scoring
3rd Period
13:05 COL (1-0) - PPG, Cale Makar shot the puck from the point ,and Nazem Kadri sent the rebound into the Coyotes' net.
13:15 COL (2-0) - J.T. Compher doubled Colorado's lead 10 seconds later when he cleaned up a loose puck.
14:28 COL (3-0) - Mikko Rantanen scored off the rush to tally the Avalanche's third goal in a matter of 1:23. Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog assisted on the play.
Final: Avalanche - 3 | Coyotes - 0

3 STARS

Selected by NHL

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 1 for 2
Arizona: 0 for 2

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer stopped all 14 shots he faced.
Arizona: Darcy Kuemper allowed three goals on 40 shots.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Grubauer earned his second postseason shutout to secure his ninth postseason victory with Colorado. He moved into sole possession of second place on the Avalanche's all-time playoff wins list behind Patrick Roy (81). Including the club's time in Quebec, Grubauer's nine wins are fourth in franchise annals behind Roy, Mario Gosselin (16) and Dan Bouchard (12).

NOTEBOOK

The Avalanche held the Coyotes to 14 shots, setting a new franchise record for the fewest shots against in a playoff game. The previous mark was 15, which occured three times (last on May 21, 2000 vs. Dallas). Colorado's fewest shots against in the 2019-20 regular season was 18 at the Detroit Red Wings on March 2... Colorado's 40-14 shot differential was one short of the Avalanche/Nordiques postseason record of 27, a mark set in Game 3 of the 2019 First Round (COL: 56, CGY: 29)... Nazem Kadri now has five points (two goals, three assists) this postseason, setting a new career high for a single playoff year... Kadri, J.T. Compher and Mikko Rantanen each scored in a span of 1:23--including 10 seconds between the Kadri and Compher markers--to take a 3-0 lead in the third period. The Avs were three seconds shy of the franchise record for the fastest two goals in a postseason game (seven seconds), a mark set in Game 3 of the 1996 Conference Finals (Adam Foote & Adam Deadmarsh)... The best-of-seven set with Arizona is Colorado's 34th playoff series since relocating to Denver in 1995-96. The Avs have gone 20-13 in the previous 33… Overall, this is the 49th playoff series in franchise history (26-22 record) and the 43rd best-of-seven series (23-19 record)... This is the second time the Avalanche and Coyotes have met in the postseason as Colorado defeated the then-Phoenix Coyotes in five games during the 2000 Western Conference Quarterfinals (4-1).

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

Pregame Flex.

ROSTER REPORT

The Avalanche started the game with the same roster it iced in the final game of its Stanley Cup Qualifier schedule last Saturday against the Vegas Golden Knights, with Philipp Grubauer in net.

INJURY UPDATE

All 31 members of the Avalanche are available to play in Edmonton.

UP NEXT

The teams meet for Game 2 on Friday at 12 p.m. MT, the first contest of a back-to-back set. Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. MT and Game 4 will be on Monday at 3:30 p.m. MT. The first four outings of the series will all be afternoon affairs.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on start of the game
Forwards
90 Vladislav Namestnikov - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 91 Nazem Kadri - 13 Valeri Nichushkin
95 Andre Burakovsky - 37 J.T. Compher - 72 Joonas Donskoi
83 Matt Nieto - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 11 Matt Calvert
Defensemen
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
16 Nikita Zadorov - 28 Ian Cole
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer (starter)
39 Pavel Francouz (backup)