DENVER – The Colorado Avalanche acquired Jonas Johansson from the Buffalo Sabers on Saturday in an effort to sharpen their shaky goalkeeper.
The Sabers received Colorado’s sixth-round draft pick in a deal agreed upon a day earlier. The Sabers had to wait for the COVID-19 Test results after the Boston Bruins, their most recent opponent, had to enter four players with the NHL protocol on Friday.
Buffalo also had to wait for goalkeeper Michael Houser, who was signed on Friday, to clear exemptions to prevent him from having to call a goalkeeper from the minors.
The Avalanche relied heavily on starter Philipp Grubauer this season, with backup Pavel Francouz sidelined with an injury to his lower body. Hunter Miska sometimes filled in for Grubauer, but he struggled and has a 4.16 goals to average.
Miska was recently sent to the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League, with Adam Werner recalled from the Eagles.
Johansson is 0-5-1 in seven games for the Sabers this season, with a 3.79 goals to average and a 0.884 save percentage and has an overall record of 1-8-2. The 25-year-old was a third-round pick by Buffalo in 2014.
He received increased playing time with the Sabers after starter Linus Ullmark suffered an abdominal injury last month. Ullmark is expected to miss a few more weeks.
Grubauer was spectacular despite the heavy workload. He is the first goalie in Colorado to make at least 20 of the team’s first 25 games since Semyon Varlamov started in 2012-13.
The 29-year-old Grubauer already has 17 wins. His career best is 18, which he has had in each of the past two seasons. Grubauer’s 1.82 goals against average is the first of the goal scorers. He also has four exclusions.
“It’s great to have that reliable goalkeeper behind,” said Tyson Jost. “He was great all year. We need him to go through the whole year.”
Colorado’s defense was also a big help. The team held opponents to less than 30 strokes in an 18 straight game. In their last six games, the Avalanche beat teams 259-116.
The Avalanche are 18-8-2 halfway through the season. Their .679 percent is the third-best point at the center since the team moved to Denver.
The Sabers are in a sell-out mode while in a 0-11-2 slide and are in danger of extending their play-off drought to an NHL record that matches the 10th season.
This is expected to be the first of many deals for Buffalo. It’s been three days since first year general manager Kevyn Adams announced that there would be a stir on the roster after coach Ralph Krueger was sacked.