DENVER – Philipp Grubauer made 31 saves, Gabriel Landeskog had one goal and two assists, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild 6-0 on Saturday.
Cale Makar had one goal and one assist, Nathan MacKinnon had three assists and Mikko Rantanen scored his third goal in two games. Tyler Jost, Devon Toews and Valeri Nichushkin also scored goals.
Grubauer completed his fifth shutout of the season and the 16th of his career. The 29-year-old combined his career with his 18th victory.
The wild goalkeeper Kappo Kahkonen had captured his personal winning streak in nine games. He stopped 36 shots.
Fierce defender Matt Dumba was injured with a lower body injury when he went on ice skating in a 5-1 loss to Colorado on Thursday night. Minnesota coach Dean Evason said Friday the injury was “better than it looked”.
Minnesota came to Denver but was dominated by two losses. The Wild was surpassed in the two games with 97: 51 and scored with 10: 1 three points behind the Avalanche in the West Division.
Makar and Landeskog scored a goal in the first half, giving Colorado the early lead. Rantanen scored his 17th of the season 46 seconds after the third, Jost his second at 1:53 and Toews at 18:47 to make it 5-0. Nichushkin scored in the third.
Net profit
Before the game, Colorado acquired Jonas Johansson from the Buffalo Sabers to stabilize his goal. Johansson was 0-5-1 in seven games for the Sabers that season, with 3.79 goals against the average and a saving of 0.884 percent.
The Avalanche has relied heavily on Grubauer, with Pavel Francouz on the list of long-term injuries and Hunter Miska struggling.
Colorado sent a selection to Buffalo for the sixth round.
NOTES: Minnesota D Carson Soucy made a return to the line-up after serving a knockout ban on a goal against Arizona on Tuesday night.
NEXT
Wild: host Anaheim on Monday evening.
Avalanche: Monday night in Arizona.
