Postgame Wrap-Up: Jost Helps Avs Climb Standings

ST. PAUL, Minn.--Tyson Jost scored his third game-winning goal of the season, and the Colorado Avalanche continued its climb up the Western Conference standings.
Jost buried his 10th marker of the campaign at 6:56 of the second period to break a 1-1 tie and help the Avs defeat the Minnesota Wild 3-1 on Tuesday night at Xcel Energy Center. With the victory, Colorado moved within one point of the ninth-place Wild in the standings and two points behind the idle Arizona Coyotes, who presently hold the second and final wild-card spot for the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the West.

The Avalanche has played one fewer game than the Wild and an equal amount as the Coyotes (73).
"This one tonight for us I think is as close to a must-win this time of the year," said Avs head coach Jared Bednar. "I don't know that they needed to win it, but we certainly did to try and get closer, inch closer here, because the runway is running out."
The matchup was the fourth and final meeting of the season between the Avs and Wild, with the clubs splitting the series 2-2-0. Colorado also won the opening-night outing back on Oct. 4.
"It was a huge game for us. It was a playoff game," Jost said. "Seems like we always have a rivalry with Minny regardless of the standings and where we are in points compared to them. It is a huge game for us. We knew that coming into it. I love how our team played."
Jost's fourth career goal against Minnesota came after he took a stretch pass from Colin Wilson at the Wild blueline that sparked a breakaway on goaltender Devan Dubnyk.
"I think [Nathan MacKinnon] changed for me, and it just kind of happened that I got off the bench with speed and Wils created a turnover," Jost said. "I was just screaming for the puck, and he made an awesome pass, thread the needle there."
The Avs' 10th overall pick in the 2016 draft fooled Dubnyk with a calculated backhand shot on the glove side. Jost trains alongside Dubnyk in the offseason, and he chose a shot location that the keeper wouldn't expect.
"He's seen some of my moves, and I've seen some of his tendencies. I just tried to not overthink it," Jost said. "I was thinking five-hole, but I kind of said, 'No, I'm going to go high glove on the backhand there.' It felt good to get that one."
Jost now has 22 points on the season (10 goals, 12 assists), tying his career high he set last year.
Colorado concludes its two-game, Central Division road trip on Thursday against the Dallas Stars, who hold the first wild-card spot in the conference with 82 points. The Avalanche is 2-1-0 against the Stars this year.
"Dallas is going to be a huge game for us and an opportunity to grab two points and keep chasing these guys ahead us," Jost said. "We've said it before, we know what is on the line, and we want to get into the playoffs."
BARRIE KEEPS BARRIE-ING: Tyson Barrie opened the scoring at 10:31 of the first period on a slap shot from the right circle for his 10th goal of the 2018-19 campaign.
It is the fifth time in his NHL career that he's reached double digits in goals in a season. It was also his 71st of his NHL career, one shy of tying Sandis Ozolinsh's Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques record for career goals by a defenseman (72).
"Barrie is hot right now. He has the hot stick," Jost said of the defender, who has three tallies in the last two games.
Barrie already owns the record for points by a franchise defenseman and is just one goal or assist away from 300 points in his career.
Selected 64th overall in the third round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Barrie will be the third blueliner from his draft class to reach the mark, joining Victor Hedman (411, 691 games) and Oliver Ekman-Larsson (329, 648 games). The Colorado rear guard has played it in far fewer games (475), and his 0.63 points per game is tops among 2009-drafted defensemen.
GRUUUUU:Goaltender Philipp Grubauer started for the second consecutive game and made 36 saves to improve his record to 4-2-0 in his last six starts.
The netminder now has a 0.83 goals-against average, .971 save percentage and three shutouts in his last seven appearances. Only the Vegas Golden Knights' Marc-Andre Fleury has had a similar strong stretch since Feb. 23, with him posting a 6-0-0 record, 0.83 goals-against average, .973 save percentage and two shutouts.
Grubauer had a shutout streak of 93:58 going until Minnesota's Zach Parise scored with a deflection on a power play at 1:52 of the second period.
COLE GOES DEEP:Ian Cole's roughly 180-foot shot sealed the game for the Avalanche.
The defenseman scored into an empty net from his own goal line to give Colorado a 3-1 lead with 1:54 remaining.
"Our forwards did a fantastic job in the neutral zone, great angles and great spacing and we were able to force a chip," Cole said. "I went back for [the puck], and I had a ton of time and a ton of space. When you have time and space, you're able to take a little more risk than if a guy is right in your pocket."
Cole also added an assist on Barrie's goal for his second multi-point performance of the season. He had two assists on Oct. 18 at the New Jersey Devils.
The Ann Arbor, Michigan, native also had seven blocked shots, one short of tying his season high. He ranks fourth in the NHL with 156 blocks this year.
MORE NOTES:The Avs went with a lineup featuring 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the second straight game after also implementing the alignment in Sunday's contest against the New Jersey Devils.
Forwards Andrew Agozzino and A.J. Greer were the healthy scratches.
Matt Calvert appeared in his 73rd game of the season, tying for the most he's played in during his NHL career. The forward is one of five Colorado players that has yet to miss a contest his year.
Tyson Barrie is tied for eighth among NHL defensemen in scoring (along with Chicago's Erik Gustafsson) with 51 points in 2018-19.