Francouz makes 26 saves for first NHL shutout, Avalanche defeat Ducks

ANAHEIM -- Pavel Francouz made 26 saves for his first NHL shutout, and the Colorado Avalanche moved into second place in the Central Division with a 1-0 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Friday.

It was the first shutout in 21 NHL starts for Francouz, who signed a two-year contract on Friday. Francouz came within 2:14 of a shutout in a 3-1 win against the visiting New York Islanders on Wednesday.
"It feels great, of course," Francouz said. "We were pretty close to getting a shutout last game. We were two minutes short, but I was really happy that we finished hard today. We were playing like one unit in front of me and the guys blocked a lot of shots."
WATCH: [All Avalanche vs. Ducks highlights]
J.T. Compher scored for the Avalanche (35-18-7), who are three points behind the St. Louis Blues in the Central. Colorado has won five straight on the road and is 10-3-1 in the past 14 games.
"Different guys stepping up at different times and helping out that top line, [which is] always playing real well for us," Compher said.

John Gibson made 28 saves for the Ducks (24-30-7), who are 2-4-2 in their past eight and have been outscored 11-1 in their past three home games.
"He was real solid, especially when we had a couple times there where we iced the puck," Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. "We had guys tired on the ice and they had fresh ones. He was able to hold us in there when needed, and that's what we need from Gibby every night."
Compher scored at 16:38 of the second period. Colorado forward Martin Kaut stole a clearing pass by Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm at the Anaheim blue line and fed Compher for the one-timer.
It was the first NHL point for Kaut, who made his NHL debut on Wednesday.
"I thought we were way better tonight with our compete level," Eakins said. "I thought we were much more physical, which was good. We were structurally good, but we couldn't get one past that goalie."

They said it

"They were desperately trying to score and we knew we had the lead on the road, so we just kind of took a step back and we played real well in our zone. We were getting the puck out of the zone. We kept it simple, so I think that was huge that we showed we can finish 1-0." -- Avalanche goalie Pavel Francouz
"We've got to keep trying to get pucks to the net. It doesn't have to be a clean shot on the net. If you watch the highlights every night, there's a whole lot of dirty goals being scored everywhere. I think we all remember the highlight one from the day, but if you watch all the highlights there's a lot of dirty goals." -- Ducks coach Dallas Eakins

Need to know

Francouz was making his third straight start since Philipp Grubauer sustained a lower-body injury against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. … The Avalanche recalled forward Sheldon Dries from Colorado of the American Hockey League on Thursday and he had one shot in 7:04 in his first game since Nov. 29. … Colorado leads the NHL with 84 second-period goals. ... Lindholm played his 500th NHL game. ... The Ducks traded forward Ondrej Kase to the Boston Bruins on Friday for forward David Backes, defenseman prospect Axel Andersson and a first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. ... The Ducks have one win in regulation at Honda Center since Dec. 27.

What's next

Avalanche:At the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday (10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, ALT, NHL.TV)
Ducks:Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)