Grubauer and Binnington Will Face Off in Goaltending Duel in Round 1

In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the goaltender position is one that can define the outcome of a series, and two highly-touted netminders will be center stage in the first-round matchup between the Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues.
Both clubs relied heavily on their starting keepers throughout the 2020-21 regular season and will continue to do so in the first round of the postseason, as the Avs' Philipp Grubauer and Blues' Jordan Binnington will look give their respective teams the edge in the goaltending department.

Here's a look at the netminders that will be in between the pipes to start the Round 1 series.
Colorado: Philipp Grubauer
Grubauer, who completed his third regular season with the Avalanche and second campaign as the full-time starter was a dominant force and one of the key factors that led the squad to a 39-13-4 record (82 points), a West Division championship and the organization's first Presidents' Trophy since 2000-01.
The Rosenheim, Germany, native set career highs in nearly every major statistical category, finishing with a 30-9-1 mark, 1.95 goals-against average, .922 save percentage and seven shutouts in 40 appearances (39 starts). His 30 wins and 40 outings were career highs, while his seven clean sheets and 1.95 goals-against average were also personal bests. As the netminder topped personal record after personal record, he also found himself among the league's top goalies, ranking second in wins and goals-against average for keepers that played in 15 or more games while matching the NHL high in shutouts.

He rounded out the regular season with a 13-0-1 mark in his final 14 contests at Ball Arena, tying the longest home point streak by an NHL netminder this year. Against the Blues, Grubauer collected a shutout to go along with a 2-1-0 record, 1.68 goals-against average and .938 save percentage.
Grubauer, who won a Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals in 2018, also cemented himself in the organization's annals with his remarkable campaign, becoming the sixth goalie in franchise history to reach 30 wins in a season. As well, the 29-year-old posted the second-most shutouts (tied) and second-lowest, goals-against average by an Avalanche netminder all time.
Last postseason, Grubauer appeared in seven matchups and compiled a 5-0-1 record, 1.87 goals-against average and .922 save percentage before exiting Game 1 in the second-round series versus the Dallas Stars and missing the remainder of the playoffs (unfit to play). In the first-round meeting with the Arizona Coyotes, the six-year NHL veteran went 4-0 with a .953 save percentage and 1.00 goals-against average.
St. Louis: Jordan Binnington
In his third full NHL season, Jordan Binnington led the way in the cage for the Blues despite going through some ups and downs during the 56-game schedule. The goaltender played in 42 contests (41 starts), registering an 18-14-8 record, 2.65 goals-against average and .910 save percentage. Binnington started off the campaign strong, going 6-1-1 through his first eight starts, but followed it with a 6-10-4 stretch through the middle part of the season.
Although Binnington went through some inconsistencies at points in the campaign, he found his groove at the right time and ended the year on a nine-game point streak, posting a 6-0-3 mark, 2.39 goals-against average and .918 save percentage.
When facing the Avs this year, the 27-year-old held a 3-4-0 mark, 2.89 goals-against average and .909 save percentage, and the backstop earned two consecutive victories to round out the season series.

Even though the Richmond Hill, Ontario, native is only in his third NHL campaign, he has playoff experience that is unmatched by most netminders in the league and owns a Stanley Cup championship from 2018-19 to go along with it. Binnington has appeared in a total of 31 postseason contests, owning a 16-15 career record, 2.79 goals-against average and .904 save percentage while being a critical piece in St. Louis' Stanley Cup run.
He sported a 16-10 mark in the club's historic 2019 postseason and added a shutout during the stretch. Binnington finished the playoffs with a stellar performance in Game 7 of the final against the Boston Bruins, stopping 32-of-33 shots to help give St. Louis its first Stanley Cup title.